CN101233508B - One-click segmentation definition - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for displaying and filtering reports including website visit data in response to receiving user input. The system allows users to load various reports into the workspace and filter the entire result set by selected criteria. The system allows the user to specify and configure segments by simply clicking next to the desired criteria in the report, alone or in combination with various keyboard functions, while viewing the report. Filtered reports can be further refined based on additional filters and criteria. Adjustment results are returned almost instantaneously, enabling users to analyze the combined effects of multiple factors.

Description

Click Segment Definition

Cross References to Related Applications

This application is required under 35 U.S.C. § 199 to U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/687,626 (Attorney Docket No. 10402) entitled "Incrementally Adding Segmentation Criteria to a Data Set," filed June 3, 2005, with Brett Error as the inventor and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/687,285 (Attorney Docket 10403) filed June 3, 2005, entitled "One-Click Segment Definition," by Catherine Wong, and claiming December 2005 under § 120 Priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 11/313,970 (Attorney Docket 10570) entitled "Incrementally Adding Segmentation Criteria to a Data Set" by Brett M. Error, filed November 20 and filed November 18, 2004 U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10/993,397 (Attorney Docket No. 9263) entitled "Assigning Value to Elements Contributing to Business Success" by Brett M. Error et al. and Brett Error et al., filed June 27, 2003 Related to U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10/609,008 (Attorney Docket No. 8054) entitled "Capturing and Presenting Site VisitationPath Data," all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. the

technical field

The present invention relates generally to website usage tracking, and more particularly to improved techniques for presenting and filtering website visit data. the

Background technique

"Know your customer" is one of the most common selling principles. This basic principle of selling goes far beyond knowing who enters the store; it requires knowing, among other things, what attracts customers, what customers are looking at, how they move around the store, and how long they stay. By studying customer buying habits, retailers have been able to maximize their revenue by adapting their promotions, offerings, and even store layouts to their customers' preferences and habits. the

Accordingly, website providers often wish to collect data describing usage and access patterns for their website and the individual web pages within the site. This information is invaluable in developing usage statistics for various purposes, such as assessing server load, determining advertising rates, identifying areas of the website that require redesign, and the like. the

Users wishing to analyze website traffic are often interested in visits and/or specific segments of visitors. In one embodiment, a segment is defined as the website traffic data provided or displayed after a filter is applied to the data set. In another embodiment, a segment is defined as a subset of visitors/visits. the

This information is useful in many situations, including, for example, gathering feedback that leads to improvements in web page design, determining the impact of various levels of prominence of links and graphic elements on a page, and determining the contribution of individual links to final sales. the

Users, such as web site managers, often wish to filter and aggregate results in a number of different ways. However, existing reporting systems do not allow users to easily customize and filter the results. Thus, much of the commercial utility of tracking website visitor/customer visit data is lost using existing systems. Therefore, there is a need for an improved form of reporting that visually depicts web page element usage and evaluation statistics. the

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides a fast, responsive way for users to perform advanced analysis on data through a graphical user interface. Users can load various pre-packaged reports onto a single workspace and easily click on any data item to filter the result set of all reports by that item. This enables the user to quickly answer questions such as "What is the most important referrer that makes the user buy item X or item Y and view the Clearance Sale page?". Results are returned almost instantaneously, enabling users to analyze the combined effects of multiple factors. the

When viewing reports describing website visit statistics, users often wish to Different ways to filter and accumulate results. The present invention provides a flexible, easy-to-use mechanism for dynamically specifying filter criteria that provides nearly instantaneous feedback and allows the user to quickly add or remove filters to view results in any format he or she desires. the

The present invention includes a user interface that allows a user to click on additional filter criteria while viewing a report. The report is then updated almost instantaneously so that the report only includes report data that meets specified criteria. Thus, users can select various reports, add filter criteria by clicking on elements in the report, and quickly see the resulting changes in the output. the

The present invention allows the user to specify and configure specified segments without entering a separate screen or mode for specifying segments. Instead, the user can define segments by simply using input operations while viewing the report, such as by clicking and/or shift-clicking next to expected criteria in the report. the

These aspects of the present invention provide better visibility of the information produced by the methods described above, which provides valuable information for website owners to gain insight into which elements of the website are contributing to site success and return on investment . the

The description in the specification is not exhaustive, and in particular, many other features and advantages will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the drawings, specification and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the description has, in principle, been chosen for readability and instructional purposes, not to restrict or limit the inventive subject matter. the

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention. the

2A is a block diagram illustrating a system that facilitates incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the invention. the

Figure 2B is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention. the

Fig. 2C illustrates the client used according to an embodiment of the present invention Block diagram of the software modules. the

3A and 3C-3D illustrate a user interface for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set, according to one embodiment of the invention. the

FIG. 3B illustrates a report of the user interface of FIG. 3A according to one embodiment of the present invention. the

Figure 3E shows a user interface illustrating another embodiment of a user interface for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set in accordance with the present invention. the

FIG. 3F illustrates an open segment filter window of the user interface of FIG. 3E according to one embodiment of the present invention. the

Figure 3G illustrates an open data filter window of the user interface of Figure 3E according to one embodiment of the present invention. the

Figure 4A illustrates a user interface for filtering website visit data according to one embodiment of the present invention. the

FIG. 4B illustrates the user interface of FIG. 4A with two additional filters applied by combining with. the

FIG. 4C illustrates the user interface of FIG. 4B with additional filtering applied by combining with. the

Figure 4E illustrates a user interface with one embodiment with additional filters applied via "and" combination. the

5A-5B illustrate a user interface for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to another embodiment of the invention. the

Those skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods described herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein. the

Detailed ways

In the embodiments described below, the context in which the invention occurs is reporting online Website visit data collected during the purchase process. However, this is merely an illustrative description of the present technique; those skilled in the art will recognize that the present technique may be applied in any environment where it is desired to screen website visit data. the

In the process of purchasing an item from an online retailer, a visitor/customer generally follows a basic path. A visitor enters a website (eg, by typing in the website's URL, or selecting from a favorites menu, or clicking on a link), and the online retailer's home page is presented to the visitor. During this process, an item description is typically presented to the visitor. If a visitor wants to purchase this item, he or she clicks the "Add to Cart" link and navigates to a payment page, and then to a page to enter billing and shipping information. After entering this information, a confirmation page is typically presented to the visitor where he or she is given an opportunity to review the order and complete it before leaving the website. Analyzing visitor navigation through this sequence is extremely valuable to web site managers. the

Techniques for collecting station path sequences are well known in the art. A particular visitor is identified as he or she moves from page to page; mechanisms for visitor tracking are well known in the art and need not be described in detail here. Visitor/customer webpage access records are stored sequentially according to the time of occurrence. Each visit record typically contains two types of information: an identifier for the page visited, and metadata that provides further criteria for filtering and analyzing the ordered data. the

In some contexts, certain elements of visitor navigation are designated as "checkpoints," which means that they are important in the analysis of website visit paths. In general, all instances of a particular sequence of checkpoints are considered equivalent, regardless of the presence or absence of any other (non-checkpoint) nodes in the sequence. More specific details regarding the use of detection points can be found in co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10/609,008, entitled "Capturing and Presenting Site Visitation Path Data," filed June 27, 2003, by BrettError et al., at This is incorporated by reference. the

In one embodiment, the system automatically designates certain nodes as checkpoints based on certain characteristics, location, name, popularity, or any other factor. For example, the home page and/or the five most popular pages can be automatically designated as detection points. In one embodiment, these automatic or default detection points can be used to construct the initial target path diameter. the

In this context, a description of one embodiment of the invention is given here. the

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention. the

As an optional preliminary step, user input is received 110 to select one or more defined reports for viewing. In one embodiment, the user initiates this step by clicking on a user interface control, such as a report button. Also, a data set associated with the one or more defined reports is then retrieved 120, the data set including, for example, website visit data. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by sending a reporting query to the network and receiving reporting data from the network corresponding to the query. In one embodiment, the network answers with data. In such embodiments, retrieval includes interpreting the data, for example, using a hash code or lookup table stored, for example, in a local cache. In another embodiment, the process begins at step 130 . the

The system displays 130 the defined reports. In one embodiment, each report displays a default set of metrics, and the data is sorted according to that metric. For example, although the initial default metric can be customized by the user via an options screen, the initial default metric can be visits to a website. In one embodiment, a user can customize the default metrics for each report, for example by changing, adding, or deleting metrics. In one embodiment, the defined reports are displayed 130 in the report display area of the user interface. the

In one embodiment, pre-programmed default metrics include Page Views; Visits; Unique Visitors per hour, day, week, month, quarter, or year; Revenue; Orders; Units; Purchases Cart opens, adds, deletions, and views; payments; habitual events; occurrences (product views, campaign clicks, instance equivalents); and engagement metrics. the

Initially, the report shows a default number of data rows (eg, 10), although the user can adjust the default number as desired. In various embodiments, the reports are standard, preset reports associated with a predefined set of filters; user-customized reports created during the current session; previously customized reports retrieved from memory; or churn (fall-out) report. the

In one embodiment, a "churn report" is a report based on a target path, where the target path is specified according to the detection points described herein. The Churn Report indicates how many visitors continued to the next detection point in the goal path, regardless of whether the visitor/user visited other incidental pages before proceeding. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a mechanism for generating and producing a "churn report" that provides statistics on the visit path for a particular checkpoint page without taking into account other not specified The page for the detection point. If the user chooses to apply one or more filters by clicking elements on the report, the churn report is automatically updated accordingly. Thus, a user can easily specify specific filter parameters for churn reports, and can easily modify, add, or delete these parameters as he or she sees fit. the

In some implementations, various views of reporting data are available. For example, types of views include Trend View, Improvement View, Order View, Time View, Churn View, Conversion View, Average View, Graph View, Gantt View, Table View, Row Data View, and Flexible View. Some reports also include a search field, which allows users to search and view entries for specific keywords or phrases. the

When a user wishes to filter a report, the system receives 140 user input to adjust the segmentation criteria used to filter the report. In various implementations, adjusting segment filter criteria includes adding segment criteria; deleting pre-existing segment criteria; adjusting date ranges; creating new segment criteria; the

In one embodiment, the information in the reported rows are mutually exclusive such that a single criterion or filter selection will collapse the report to that selection. In another embodiment, the information is not mutually exclusive, so it is possible to select multiple rows and thus multiple filters. the

Users can filter reports in various ways. For example, a user may click on a filter icon ("funnel") adjacent to a desired filter criterion. In one embodiment, the icon operates as a toggle, switching between activation and deactivation criteria depending on its current state. the

In one embodiment, clicking on the funnel icon causes the filter to be applied as "AND" logical operation. In one embodiment, the user can apply filters as OR criteria using various operations. For example, in one embodiment, the user may shift and click to apply the filter as an OR criterion. Thus, the system may receive user input that applies more than one filter to a single defined report, and in response to receiving consecutive inputs to apply two or more filters, the system may use an "and" OR "OR" logical operation to combine filters. All reports will be adjusted according to this filter. The user can then further filter the adjusted report if desired. In one embodiment, the user can right-click to view a menu of options for applying filters. the

According to one embodiment of the invention, the elements of the displayed report are the user input elements themselves for the specified filter. Accordingly, a user may click on an area (eg, row) within the tabular report to apply a filter corresponding to the data items displayed in that area. In one embodiment, the applied filters are displayed in the segment filter area of the user interface, which shows a summary of the filters and how they are combined (eg, "and" or "or"). the

Next, the system processes 150a the selected criteria and displays 150b one or more adjusted reports. In one embodiment, each report is adjusted according to segmentation criteria. In one embodiment, the adjusted report is displayed almost instantaneously following user input to adjust the segmentation criteria. Also, if the report has been adjusted by more than one filter, all filters will be reflected in the adjusted report displayed, for example, in the report display area of the user interface. In one embodiment, the sample rate for reporting is selected based on the requested date range, available RAM, and other technical considerations. In one embodiment, process 150a is part of an executable process that combines filters and applies them to reports. According to one embodiment, the executable process also displays a summary of the filter criteria in the segment filter area of the user interface, and adds the filter criteria to the summary when a filter is selected. the

As part of this process, the system can also store reports. Users can save and reopen projects later. When the user saves the project, the datasets, filters, reports, and canvas appearance are all saved. Then, when the user opens the saved project, everything looks exactly as he or she left it. the

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may be used in conjunction with any type of screening criteria that can be specified by the user and/or in conjunction with any combination of such screening criteria. Examples include sequential visit numbers (indicating whether this is the visitor's first visit, second visit, etc.), which specific pages were visited, the moment of the visit, the geographic location of the visitor, the web browser used, Whether the visitor is using a trial version of the browser, etc. the

Reference is now made to FIG. 2A , which illustrates an example of a system 200 that is useful in putting the present invention into practice, according to one implementation. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced using other embodiments than the examples shown. the

The system 200 includes a client 201, a network 202, and optionally a cache 209 for adding segmentation criteria to a data set. Client 201 includes software and data files that include multiple executable code portions. These codes include codes for viewing and interacting with website usage reports according to an embodiment of the present invention and codes for supporting user interface functions, which will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2C . the

The client 201 is responsible for organizing the processes performed according to the method of the invention. For example, client 201 receives input 212 from an input device and sends a report to display 207 (or other output device) for output to a user. Client 201 runs on a standard personal computer. the

Network 202 is a centralized network for processing and responding to client requests for website usage data, as further described in connection with FIG. 2B . the

Cache 209, if present, is a standard cache of small, fast memory that holds recently accessed data. Cache 209 may include, for example, a list of hash codes or other lookup tables for reporting data as described below. the

In one embodiment, the assembly shown in Figure 2A operates as follows. When a user requests one or more reports through input device 210, client 201 receives input 212 to that effect. Client 201 sends query 205 to network 202, specifying which reports are requested, and optionally specifying one or more filters for the report. In one implementation, query 205 is in XML format. the

In response to query 203, network 202 returns data 204 containing a representation of the report data. In various implementations, the data 204 may or may not be encoded, may be hashed data, or contained in a standard lookup table. For example, data 204 may specify text string names of items in the report in hashed terms. Data 204 is received by client 201 . the

The client 201 stores previously received and decoded hash code lists or lookup table information, in one embodiment in a local cache 209, so that it can correctly interpret hash codes or lookup table information it has encountered before. tabular data. In one embodiment, a local cache 209 is used and cleared at the end of a session so that only those codes that were previously received in the same session are stored in the cache 209 . In other embodiments, the local cache 209 is implemented in a more persistent or less persistent manner depending on the needs of the user. the

After receiving the data 204, the client refers to the cache 209, if it exists; if the cache 209 contains the hash code or meaning of the data 204 (i.e., if the client 201 has previously received data containing the same hash code/meaning ), the client 201 can interpret the meaning of the data in the hash code or look-up table without any other communication with the network 202. For example, a hash code/meaning could specify that the hash term #299 signifies a visitor using Internet Explorer 6.0. If the hash code/meaning of the data 204 is not present in the cache 209 , the client 201 sends a query 205 to the network 202 ; the network 202 responds by sending a translation 206 to the client 201 . The translation 206 provides the client 201 with the meaning of the term. In one embodiment, client 201 stores the meaning in cache 209 for future use. the

Once the client 201 has received enough data to generate a report, it sends the report to the display 207 for output to the user. In one embodiment, if some meanings have not been received, the client 201 still sends a report, and the report states that some terms are unknown. In another embodiment, the client 201 displays an error message and/or waits until data with a more complete meaning is available. the

A user can interact with the displayed reports through user input devices 210 such as a mouse, keyboard, and the like. Users can click on areas in the report; when the user clicks on the When a click is made on an area that can be interpreted as a filter, the client 201 generates and sends a new query 203 containing the new report filter criteria. The above process is then repeated and an updated report is sent to the display 207 . the

Referring now to FIG. 2B , an example of an architecture for network 202 is shown, according to one implementation. The network 202 includes any number of front-end web servers 250 that receive queries 203, 205 from clients 201, and any number of retrieve data from memory such as databases 270, analyze the retrieved data, and send report data back to the client 201 The backend server 260 of. Servers 250, 260 are computers or devices that send and receive information for network communications using well-known network protocols such as TCP/IP and HTTP. The backend server 260 sends the appropriate data set to the client 201 based on the filtering request. For example, if the screening request specifies that the user is only interested in visitors using a particular web browser, the backend server 260 deletes data that does not match the specified criteria and forwards only matching data to the client 201. the

Database 270 may be a relational database or any other type of database that stores data used by client 201 . Client 201 may access database 270 through, for example, a user interface as described in connection with FIGS. 3A-3G . the

Database 270 contains website visit data, which, in one embodiment, is stored in binary format on some storage medium such as a hard disk. In one embodiment, website visit data is broken down into multiple files or "chunks" to facilitate extraction of data portions. When the server 260 extracts data from the database 270 , specific chunks that match the criteria are provided to the server 260 . the

In one embodiment, when a user requests a report displaying website access data for a specified time period, the backend server 260 extracts data from the database 270 including web access logs and/or statistics. In one embodiment, the server 260 extracts from the database 270 data representing website visit snapshots (snapshots) over a specified period of time. Server 260 then stores the website visit data in temporary local storage (eg, random access memory) using, for example, an algorithmically encoded binary format to minimize bandwidth usage. In one embodiment, the binary format is the same as that used in database 270, so that when server 260 extracts from database 270 There is no need to perform file format conversion when fetching data. The server 260 then applies filtering according to the request and sends the filtered data to the client 201 . the

In one embodiment, whenever a user requests a wider date range for website access data, the backend server 260 performs a fetch of new data from the database 270 . However, when the user narrows the date range from the previously specified range, no new data extraction is performed; instead, the previously extracted data is filtered by the backend server 260 according to the new filtering parameters. the

Figure 2C is a block diagram illustrating software modules used by a client according to one embodiment of the present invention. A module consists of several executable code sections and data files. These codes include code for creating and supporting a user interface according to one embodiment of the invention, and code for supporting the incremental addition of segmentation criteria to a dataset. The modules include an input module 275 , a query module 280 , an interpretation module 285 , and an output module 290 . the

The input module 275 is configured to receive input to select one or more reports; receive input to adjust segmentation criteria for the one or more reports; receive input to adjust one or more metrics; and Receives input for adjusting various aspects of the displayed data. Thus, when a user requests one or more reports through an input device, the input module allows the client to receive input to that effect. In one embodiment, the input module 275 is also configured to receive user input to apply more than one filter to one or more reports, eg, using logical operators. the

The query module 280 is configured to retrieve a data set containing website visit data associated with one or more reports; send a report query to the network and receive report data corresponding to the query from the network; store the adjusted report as the one or one of several defined reports. In one embodiment, as user input is received to filter reports, new queries are generated and sent, and the process is repeated. the

Interpretation module 285 is configured to interpret the data in response to receiving the data from the network. In one embodiment, interpretation module 285 uses stored hash codes/meanings for this purpose. If the hash code/meaning does not exist, eg, in a local cache, in one embodiment, the interpretation module 285 sends a query to the network and receives back a translation that provides the meaning of the term. the

The output module 290 is configured to display one or more defined reports; display one or more (singly or multiple) adjusted reports, wherein each report is adjusted according to segmentation criteria; display one or Multiple twice-adjusted reports, where each report is adjusted according to segment criteria. In one embodiment, processing is performed as described in connection with FIG. 1 . In one embodiment, the output module 290 sends a report to a display device for output to a user. In one embodiment, the output module 290 is further configured to display the report in the report display area of the user interface. According to one embodiment, the selection of a single criterion or filter narrows the report in the user interface to that selection if the information in the rows of the report are mutually exclusive. In one embodiment, the output module 290 is further configured to display the applied filter in the segment filter area of the user interface. the

The software portions 275-290 described above need not be separate software modules. The software configuration shown is by way of example only; other configurations are contemplated and within the scope of the invention. the

User Interface

FIG. 3A illustrates a user interface 305 for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set, according to one embodiment of the invention. In one embodiment, the user interface is implemented using a well-known environment such as Macromedia Flex, Java, DHTML, or any combination thereof. the

User interface 350 includes two main functional areas, report control area 310 and report display area 315 . The report control area 310 includes functions for creating projects and reports and for displaying report statistics. Report display area 315 includes functionality for displaying and filtering reports. the

According to one embodiment, the report control area 310 further includes a project title 320 , a project toolbar 325 , a report selection area 330 , a segmentation filtering area 335 and a date filtering area 340 . The project title 320 displays the title of the project in use. In one embodiment, when no title is selected, it defaults to "Untitled Project 1 (UntitledProject 1)", as shown in FIG. 3A. The engineering tool bar 325 is a standard tool bar, its Includes icons for various project functions such as creating a new project, opening an existing project, saving a project in use, printing a project, and more. Report selection area 330 includes an open report button 345 , a list of selected reports 355 , and a clear button 350 . Open Report button 345 allows the user to open an existing report. Once opened, the report name is added to the selected reports list 355 and the report 360 is displayed in the report display area 315 . Each selected report 360 in the selected reports list 355 is displayed in the report display area 315 . Report data is retrieved, for example, through the process described in connection with Figures 2A-2B. the

As shown in FIG. 3C, segment filter area 335 displays a list of selected segment criteria. The segment filter area 335 also includes a new segment button 365 for manually adding segment criteria. the

The date filter area 340 allows the user to filter the selected report 360 by date, for example by selecting a date range for which the user would like to view report 360 data. Date filter area 340 includes deadline (to) and start (from) date selectors 370 and display mode (show by) selector 375. End and start date selectors 370 allow the user to set the start and end dates for the data displayed in report 360 by typing in the desired dates or by clicking on the calendar icon and selecting a date on the calendar. Display mode selector 375 allows the user to select the granularity of the report, such as in days, weeks or months. the

FIG. 3E shows another embodiment of a user interface having a reporting control area 310 . The report control area 310 includes a header 320 and a toolbar 325 similar to those described in connection with FIG. 3A. However, this implementation includes different user interface elements for selecting reports and filtering criteria. Reports control area 310 includes Reports button 332 , which operates to allow the user to select reports for viewing, similar to the function of open button 345 . Once a report 360 is opened, it is displayed in the report display list 334 . The report display list 334 of FIG. 3E shows that no reports are selected. See FIGS. 3F-3G , which illustrate other examples of the report display list 334 . The report control area 310 also includes a filter button 336 that allows the user to select segment and date filter criteria. Clicking on the filter button 336 activates a drop-down menu that allows the user to select a date or segment filter, as shown in FIGS. 3F-3G . the

As long as a filter is selected, the text description of the filter is displayed in the filter list 338 middle. Filter list 338 of FIG. 3E shows that no filters were selected. See Figures 3F-3G for additional examples of the filter list 338. the

Report display area 315 includes selected reports 360 in report selection area 330 . Figure 3B illustrates report 360 in more detail according to one embodiment of the invention. Each report 360 displays data corresponding to one dimension in the context of a larger data set, such as website visit data. The report name 362 is the dimension that the selected report 360 displays. For each report 360 , data is sorted according to one or more default metrics 364 . In this example, the default metric 364 is Visitors (to the website). In another embodiment, the metric used may be user-defined, as shown in metric selector 364 of FIG. 3F. the

Report 360 also includes a standard set of function keys, including a Print button 366 , a Download button 368 , and a view selector 372 . Print button 366 allows the user to print the report online without first downloading the report. Clicking the print button opens a popup with a printer-friendly version of the report. the

Download button 368 allows the user to select a format (eg, Word, Excel, PDF, HTML) for downloading the report. Once the user selects a format, the report is sent to the user as an email attachment or downloaded directly to the user's computer. the

View selector 372 allows the user to select various views of the report data. The Ranked view shown in Figure 3B is the default view for most reports and allows the user to view report data in tabular form according to a selected time period. Other views include the Improvements view, which allows users to see how a selected project has performed between previous and current time periods based on success metrics such as payment revenue, and the Trends view, which allows users to view Report trends. The user can use the view selector 372 drop-down menu to select other available views. A trending view 378 is shown in Figure 3F; the view selector displays "Trends". the

Additionally, some reports 360 include a search field 374 . A search field 374 allows a user to search and view entries for a particular keyword or phrase. As a result of clicking "go" the displayed report will be filtered by the entered search term. Moreover, an advanced search (advanced) button 376 allows the user to search through stronger specifications, such as Choose whether to search for an exact phrase, perform an AND or OR search using the search term, or exclude entries by entering a search term. In one embodiment, clicking the advanced search button 376 opens a popup window displaying these options. the

Each report 360 is divided into columns, including a filter column 380 , a data column 385 , and one or more metric columns 390 . Data column 385 includes a list corresponding to the various dimensional forms of report 360 . In the example described, the dimension is browser, so various browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0, Netscape Navigator 6.2.3, etc. are listed. Metric column 390 includes statistics for data column 385 of each row 395 . In the depicted example, for each browser (data column 385 ), the metric column 390 displays the visitors by number and percentage of the whole. the

Filter column 380 for each row 395 includes icons that allow the user to filter data through that row 395 . All reports 360 are screened to reflect this screen. In one embodiment, the filter column 380 icon operates like a toggle that narrows or expands the data based on the current state of the data. The data can be further filtered if desired, and all reports 360 are again filtered with additional criteria. In one embodiment, screening occurs almost instantaneously. Also, the number of rows is totaled in the total row 396 . the

Report 360 displays no more than a preselected number of rows for user interface 305 . In one embodiment, the number of rows can be edited. The user can interact with the on-screen report window according to well-known interaction techniques for window-based operating systems. For example, users can drag borders to change height and width; minimize, delete, and maximize; reposition/rearrange windows on the canvas by dragging window title bars; and drag column edges to resize columns. the

FIG. 4A illustrates a user interface 405 for filtering website visit data according to one embodiment of the invention. User interface 405 is similar to the user interface described in FIGS. 3A-3C . The user interface 405 includes a report control area 310 and a report display area 315, the functions of which are as described above. In the embodiment shown, the date range of April 1 to April 9, 2005 has been selected in the date filter area 340 . the

Report display area 315 includes various reports 410 . FIG. 4A shows two unfiltered reports 410 . Each displayed report 410 is selected in the report selection area 330 Shows. In this example, the default metric 364 for the displayed report 410 is Page Views. Report data for report 410 is retrieved, for example, through the process described in connection with FIGS. 2A-2B . The segment filter area 335 does not display any segment criteria since no filter has been applied. the

Each report 410 is divided into columns and rows 415 as described in connection with FIG. 3B . The filter column 420 of each row 415 includes icons that allow the user to filter the data through that row 415 . When one or more rows 415 are selected as filters, such as the filter criteria rows "Dashboard" 415a and "Products" 415b, each report 410 is updated to reflect the filter. the

FIG. 4B illustrates the user interface 405 of FIG. 4A with two filters applied by combining with. Thus, the user interface 405 shown in FIG. 4B shows results for a visitor who viewed both the product report and the dashboard. In one embodiment, the user may select "to combine with" by continuously clicking on the filter icons corresponding to various filter criteria. As the user may have accessed other reports 410 besides the one selected for filtering 410, the remaining reports are updated accordingly. Note that all reports 410 reflect the application of these filters. Whenever a filter is selected, a textual description of the filter is displayed in the segment filter area 335, including information about how it is combined, for example, with an "AND" operation. the

Users can also combine filters from different reports 410 . For example, by selecting the filter icon in row 415c of Figure 4B, an advanced search is added as a filter criterion. FIG. 4C illustrates the user interface 405 of FIG. 4B with additional filtering applied by combining with. Accordingly, the user interface 405 shown in FIG. 4C shows results for visitors who viewed product reports and dashboards and performed advanced searches. Again, all reports 410 reflect the application of additional filtering, and segment filtering area 335 is updated. the

One embodiment illustrates the user interface 405 of FIG. 4A applying two filters through an OR combination. In particular, the filter criteria rows "Dashboard" 415a and "Products" 415b have been selected. Thus, the user interface 405 of one embodiment shows results for a visitor who viewed a product report or dashboard. In one embodiment, the user can click on the first filter icon and press and hold the keyboard such as the shift key key and then click the second filter icon to select the "or" combination. As noted above, the remaining report data is displayed reflecting this update, and the segment filter area 335 is updated accordingly. All reports 410 reflect the application of these filters. the

FIG. 4E illustrates the user interface 405 of the above embodiment with additional filters applied via "AND". For example, by selecting the filter icon in row 415c, an advanced search is added as a filter criterion. Thus, the user interface 405 shown in FIG. 4E shows results for a visitor who viewed a product report or dashboard, and performed an advanced search. Again, all reports 410 reflect the application of this additional filter, and segment filter area 335 is updated. the

As described in conjunction with FIGS. 3A-3E , the user can interact with the on-screen report window according to well-known interaction techniques for window-based operating systems. the

FIG. 5A illustrates a user interface 505 for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the invention. User interface 505 is similar to the user interface described in connection with FIG. 3A, however, Fall-out report (Fall-out) 510 is one of the reports displayed. In one embodiment, the churn report 510 is based on a target path specified according to detection points defined herein. More specific details on checkpoint usage, defining checkpoints, and details about churn reporting can be found in co-pending US patent entitled "Capturing and Presenting SiteVisitation Path Data", filed June 27, 2003 by Brett Error et al. Found in Application Serial No. 10/609,008, which is hereby incorporated by reference. the

In the example, 4 pages have been designated as detection points: Home Page, Add Product To Cart, Buy Process-Billing, and Buy Process-Order Confirmation page (BuyProcess-Order confirmation). Churn report 510 indicates how many users proceeded to the next detection point in the goal path, regardless of whether the user visited other incidental pages before proceeding. Users who do not continue are marked as "Lost". Churn report 510 thus corresponds to the goal path through the website. Edit detection point link 515 takes the user to a screen for editing the target path. the

The churn report 510 for example states that 37.73% of those who visited the homepage continued Moving on to the add product to cart page, and 64.27% are lost. Of those who visited the add product to cart page, 7.66% continued on to the purchase process - billing page, while 92.34% got lost. Similar information is displayed for the remaining detection points. Cumulative percentages are also displayed for each checkpoint; these percentages indicate the percentage of users who reached that checkpoint, based on the total number of users who visited the home page at the beginning of the goal path. The actual number of users who reached each detection point is also shown next to the percentage. The report also includes statistics in number and percentage form for total conversion (number of users who visited all checkpoint nodes in the goal path) and total churn (number of users who visited the home page but did not complete the goal path). the

Displayed along with the churn report 510 is a standard product report 515 . The reports 510, 515 shown in Figure 5A are unfiltered. the

Interface Workflow

The following is a description of the interface functionality for adding segment criteria according to one embodiment of the present invention in the context of FIGS. 3A-3G . the

The user begins by loading a report, for example by using the Open button 345 of FIG. 3A or the Reports button 332 of FIG. 3E , or by right-clicking anywhere on the canvas. FIG. 3E shows a blank canvas and FIG. 3A shows a canvas with four reports 360 . Initially, no screening is applied. the

In one embodiment, the user can filter the report 360 in various ways. For example, a user may click on an icon in filter column 380 adjacent to a desired filter criterion. This icon can act as a toggle that causes the filter to be removed when the filter has been added to the report when clicked on the icon. In the report 360 shown in FIG. 3A , the user applies a filter on the "Browsers" condition to view only the visits of users using the Internet Explorer 6.0 browser. This is done by clicking on the icon to the left of the data, that is, clicking on the filter column 380 of row 395a. All reports 360 are then filtered based on the selected criteria; therefore, as shown in Figure 3C, the other 3 reports 360 also only display data via the browser IE 6.0. In another embodiment, the screening criteria are not mutually exclusive, and the criteria can be combined, for example, by an "and" or "or" operation. Therefore, the remaining report data remains displayed after filtering. Figures 4A and 4B illustrate examples of such implementations. The filter criteria rows "Dashboard" 415a and "Products" 415b of FIG. 4A were selected by the user as the AND criteria, resulting in the interface 405 shown in FIG. The remaining filtered data. Another example is described in connection with one embodiment of FIG. 4A . The filter criteria rows "Dashboard" 415a and "Product" 415b of FIG. 4A are selected by the user as "OR" criteria, which results in another interface 405 .

Next, in one embodiment, the user adds another filter to only view visitors running the Windows 98 operating system. This is accomplished by clicking on the filter icon adjacent to Windows 98, namely the filter column 380 of row 395c of FIG. 3C. Then, as shown in FIG. 3D , all four displayed reports 360 , including the one report to which filtering has been applied, only display data for visitors who are running both Windows 98 and IE 6.0. the

Other ways of screening report 360 are shown in Figures 3E-3G. The user can apply date or segment filters to the report data by clicking on filter button 336 . A click on filter button 336 activates a drop down menu to allow the user to select a date or segment filter, as shown in FIGS. 3F-3G . the

If the user filters by segment, in one embodiment, an additional drop down menu 344 is displayed with recently used segments such as shown in FIG. 3F. Menu 344 also includes option 346 of Create a New Segment. If the user filters by date, in one embodiment, a Calendar 338 such as that shown in Figure 3G is displayed. Calendar 338 allows the user to select standard date ranges, such as days, weeks, months, and quarters, as well as custom date ranges. the

Similar functionality for filtering by date and segment can also be achieved in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A-3D by using the segment filter 335 and date filter 340 sections and the accompanying functionality described herein. the

The user can save and later reopen any set of reports using the save button on the toolbar 325 . the

Another example of report filtering is shown in connection with Figures 5A-5B. In one embodiment, Users can filter the reports 510, 515 in various ways. For example, a user may click on a filter icon 520 adjacent to a desired filter criterion. In the reports 510, 515 shown in FIG. 5A, the user applies a filter on "Hewlett-Packard REFURB: Pavilion 7965Mini..." to filter out visitor information who purchased the product. This is done by clicking on icon 520 . All reports, in this example 410 and 515, are then filtered based on the selected criteria; thus the churn report also only shows data for Hewlett-Packard REFURB: Pavilion 7965 Mini being purchased, as shown in Figure 5B. the

The invention has been described in certain details with respect to one possible embodiment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced in other embodiments. First, nomenclature of components, term capitalization, attributes, data structures, or any other programming or structural aspect is not mandatory or important, and mechanisms implementing the invention or its features may have different names, formats, or protocols. Furthermore, the system may be implemented as described by a combination of hardware and software, or entirely in hardware elements. Moreover, the specific division of functionality between the various system components described herein is exemplary only, and not mandatory; functions performed by a single system component may instead be performed by multiple components, and functions performed by multiple components Can alternatively be performed by a single component. the

Portions of the above description present features of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. These functionally and logically described operations should be understood as being implemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it has proven convenient at times, to refer to arrangements of operations as modules or functional names, without loss of generality. the

Unless expressly stated otherwise in the above discussion, it should be understood that discussions in the description using terms such as "determine" or "display" refer to the actions and processes of a computer system or similar electronic computing device that manipulates and transforms data, Where data are represented as physical (electronic) quantities in computer system memory or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. the

Certain aspects of the invention include process steps described herein in algorithmic form and instructions. It should be noted that the process steps and instructions of the present invention can be implemented in software, firmware, or hardware, and when implemented in software, can be downloaded for storage on different platforms used by real-time network operating systems, and can be used by the platform operation. the

The invention also relates to apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored on a computer readable medium accessible by the computer. Such a computer program may be stored on a computer readable storage medium such as, but not limited to, a floppy disk, compact disk, CD-ROM, magneto-optical disk, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), EPROM, EEPROM, etc. Any type of disk, magnetic or optical card, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each storage medium is coupled to the computer system bus. Also, a computer referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be an architecture to which a multi-processor design for increasing computing power is applied. the

The algorithms and operations presented herein are not per se related to any particular computer or other device. Various general purpose computers may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings described herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure, and equivalent modifications, for a variety of these systems will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Moreover, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It should be understood that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention described herein, and references to any specific language may be provided in support of the invention and the best mode of the invention. the

The present invention is very suitable for various computer network systems on numerous topologies. In this field, the configuration and management of large networks include storage devices and computers communicatively coupled with disparate computers and storage devices, eg, through the Internet. the

Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has, in principle, been chosen for readability and instructional purposes rather than to restrict and limit the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, not limiting, of the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. the

Claims (14)

1. A computer-implemented method for screening a plurality of reports about web access data, the method comprising: define multiple reports, each associated with one or more corresponding segmentation criteria; for each of a plurality of defined reports, generating an instance of the defined report for the website visit data, wherein for each report, generating the instance of the report for the website visit data comprises: segmentation criteria, segmenting the website visit data into one or more segments; determining for each segment a corresponding value for a given metric; and displaying an instance of the report, the displayed instance including a reference to the one or an indication of each of a plurality of segments and a corresponding value of said metric for each segment; receiving a first user input indicating segmentation criteria associated with one of the plurality of defined reports, and in response to the receiving: determining segmentation of the website visit data according to segmentation criteria indicated by the first user input; and for each of the plurality of reports, generating an instance of the report for the determined segment of the website visit data, the generating comprising: sorting the determined segment according to the segmenting criteria into one or more sub-segments; determining a corresponding value for a given metric for each sub-segment of said determined segment; and for said determined segment of said website access data, displaying An instance of the report that includes a value of the metric for each sub-segment of the determined segment. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second user input indicating a second segmentation criterion associated with one of the plurality of defined reports; determining another segment of the website visit data based on segment criteria respectively indicated by the first user input and the second user input; and For each of the plurality of reports, an instance of the report is generated for the determined another segment. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining another segment of said website visit data comprises combining the segment indicated by said first user input and second user input using an AND operation standard. 4. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining another segment of said website visit data comprises combining segments indicated by said first user input and second user input using an OR operation standard. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of defined reports includes a churn report based on a target path specified at a checkpoint. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing an adjusted report of one or more of said defined reports in a computer storage medium as a new report of said plurality of defined reports, said adjusted report being identical to the segment defining the first segment associated with the standard. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of defined reports are user-defined reports created during a current session. 8. A computer-implemented system for screening a plurality of reports related to web access data, the system comprising: means for defining a plurality of reports, each report being associated with one or more corresponding segmentation criteria; means for generating, for each of a plurality of defined reports, an instance of the defined report for the website visit data, wherein for each report, the means for generating an instance of the report for the website visit data comprises: means for segmenting said website visit data into one or more segments according to segmentation criteria associated with said report; means for determining for each segment a corresponding value for a given metric; and means for displaying an instance of said report, the displayed instance including an indication of each of said one or more segments and a corresponding value for said metric for each segment; means for receiving a first user input indicative of segmentation criteria associated with one of the plurality of defined reports; means for determining, in response to said receiving, segmentation of said website access data according to segmentation criteria indicated by said first user input; and means for generating, in response to said receiving, for each of said plurality of reports, an instance of said report for said determined segment of website access data, said means for generating comprising: using means for segmenting said determined segment into one or more sub-segments according to segment criteria associated with said report; for determining a given metric for each sub-segment of said determined segment and means for displaying an instance of said report for said determined segment of said website access data, the displayed instance of the report including each sub-segment of said determined segment The value of the metric for . 9. The system of claim 8, further comprising: means for receiving a second user input indicating a second segmentation criterion associated with one of the plurality of defined reports; means for determining another segment of said website visit data based on segment criteria respectively indicated by said first user input and second user input; and means for generating, for each of said plurality of reports, an instance of said report for said determined further segment. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein: The means for determining another segment of the website visit data uses an AND operation to combine segmentation criteria indicated by the first user input and the second user input. 11. The system of claim 9, wherein: The means for determining another segment of the website access data uses an OR operation to combine segmentation criteria indicated by the first user input and the second user input. 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of defined reports includes a churn report based on a specified target path at a checkpoint. 13. The system of claim 8, further comprising: means for storing an adjusted report of one or more of said defined reports in a computer storage medium as a new report of said plurality of defined reports, said adjusted report being consistent with the defined first score Segmentation criteria associated with the segment. 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of defined reports are user-defined reports established during a current session.

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