Entry to Ecosystem

Many of the preference editing tools serve as entryways into the Cloud4All system. Some tools offer starter combos (clusters of preferences) to help users get started.

In the Preference Editor, presets are offered through a guide that sits as an overlay on the interface. The guide provides multiple modes of content presentation and hints where necessary. Within the Editor the primary task is customizing preferences, while in the Discovery Tool preference editing comes secondary to the resource experience.

Preference Editors

Preferences are stored in the cloud through various preference editors.  The preference editors allow users to create and modify preference sets. An individualized and compact view of the Full Preference Editor exists as the Quick Preference Editor. The Quick Editor includes a prioritized list of preferences and recommendations particular to the user. If no preferences are modified, the Quick Editor is empty with a guide prompting the user to import their current device settings or start adding preferences using the Full Editor. In the Quick Editor, the user can also switch between sets and permanently save modifications. Preferences can be added to the Quick Editor by expanding the interface into the Full Editor.

Discovery Tool

The Discovery Tool exists externally as part of an existing resource. Users are introduced to clusters of preferences (presets) that they can toggle ON/OFF. Doing so immediately changes the experience of the resource.

Presets available in the Discovery Tool are chosen based on the customizations possible on the current resource. For example, a resource with mainly video content may have different presets than a resource with mainly text content. Also presets may vary between devices, such as a website on a desktop vs an interactive on a kiosk. Each Discovery Tool creator can tailor the presets based on the current content and device to reflect the available content enhancements and alternatives.

Activated presets from the Discovery Tool can then be saved to the cloud through an account. If a user is already logged in, the presets are added and saved to their current preference set. If a user does not have an account, they are prompted to create one. After the presets have been saved, the user is brought to the Quick Editor. Their preference set is now populated with the granular preference adjusters corresponding to the presets. Because presets are additive they would never conflict with existing user preferences.

Note: Presets are also available through the Preference Editor in the form of a guide. In this case, activating a preset through the guide automatically saves it to the cloud and applies the corresponding preferences globally.

Matchmaker

Saving preferences from the Discovery Tool to the cloud and declaring preferences through the Preference Editors allows users to carry their preferences to various applications, devices, and contexts. The matchmaker is responsible for finding the best match on a new device based on the user's preference request. The user can provide feedback to the matchmaker by tweaking their preferences in the PCP. The matchmaker learns from the user's behaviour and creates context-specific sets.

Comparison of Tools

Preference Editor Functions

Functions available in the Quick Editor in orange

• • Account

    • creation / login / logout
    • attach to token / attach to username
    • edit security settings
    • edit matchmaker settings
    • delete

• • Guide

    • narration
    • language chooser
    • interaction hints
    • in-context instructions
    • presets

• • Preference browsing

    • curated categories
    • search
    • favourited preferences
    • recommended preferences

• • Set editing

    • import current device settings
    • edit preferences
    • favourite preferences
    • edit the contexts (device, application, time, location)
    • view all / switch between all
    • create new set from base set
    • create new set from modifications
    • save modifications to current set
    • discard modifications to set
    • delete sets
    • share preference sets
    • receive preference sets:
      • other users
      • discovery tools
    • sync preference sets
    • view change history

• • Matchmaker

    • determine whether new device has someone else's cloud preferences, customized system settings not in the cloud, or unmodified system settings
    • apply best inferred preferences:
    • monitor user behaviour to:
    • receive feedback on inferred preferences
    • learn and automatically create context-specific sets
    • automatically favourite frequently used and important preferences
    • make preference recommendations