WO2013091068A1

WO2013091068A1 - Social network, systems and methods for managing activities within groups and with contacts

Info

Publication number: WO2013091068A1
Application number: PCT/CA2012/001162
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ravinesan PUVANACHANDRAN
Original assignee: Puvanachandran Ravinesan
Priority date: 2011-12-21
Filing date: 2012-12-19
Publication date: 2013-06-27

Abstract

A group centric social networking solution is provided. Systems and methods are provided for managing activities, information and calendars within a household group, e.g. a family, and sharing selected information, including activity requests, with contacts in another household group. A household group calendar facilitates scheduling and planning of activities, e.g. tasks and appointments, of the group and/or of individual members within the group. Unified calendar views present activities and availability details for the entire household group, and filtered views present activities and availability details for a subset of one or more selected members. Also provided is a method of managing activities wherein an activity request is created comprising a plurality of availability instances. Users may select a time slot, of the appropriate duration, from one or more available time windows offered in the activity request. Thus negotiation of a mutually convenient time for an activity is facilitated.

Description

SOCIAL NETWORK, SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING

ACTIVITIES WITHIN GROUPS AND WITH CONTACTS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority from United States Provisional Patent application no.61/578,346, entitled "Social Network, Systems and Methods for Managing Activities Within Groups and With Connected Contacts," filed December 21, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This invention relates to social networks and systems and methods for managing activities and calendars within groups and with contacts. BACKGROUND

[0003] Existing social network solutions are structured around individuals, and do not conveniently address issues of communications or scheduling of activities within a household or family group environment, or coordinating activities between friends and individuals in other household groups. Available email and calendar applications such as Microsoft Outlook , and online calendars, such as Google Calendar and Yahoo! Calendar, like most social networks, are arranged around individuals.

[0004] Family calendar solutions from Hublife AG and Mediabee exist in the market. For example, US2008/0141247 entitled "System and Method for Information

Management" (Mediabee) discloses a group calendar system that allows for family information to be shared via a web user interface, called a family dashboard.

US2009/152349 entitled "Family Organizer Communications Network System"

(Hublife) discloses a family calendar system. However, it is very time consuming to schedule activities with other parties (e.g. members from other households). These solutions still require multiple calls, voice mails and emails to schedule events. It is also difficult to see at a glance if multiple members are participating in the same activity. Users must take multiple user actions (clicks) to view this information. [0005] Another example is described in US2008/005168 (Microsoft) entitled "Managing Family Information", which discloses a system for managing information for

coordination of tasks and activities and comparing individuals' calendars.

US2010/0159967 entitled "Method and Apparatus for a Family Centre" relates to a family centre, including a family calendar, which is offered by Broadsoft. However, these solutions combine multiple individual calendar entries for each participant in an activity. In a busy or full schedule with multiple overlapping activities involving a number of participants, the resulting calendar view for a particular time slot becomes cluttered with multiple entries for each participant, and can be difficult to read.

[0006] Cozi Group (Cozi.com) offers a family organizer in which members sign into a single account with a shared password. However, the calendar functionality is limited and offers only a shared view in the form of a daily listing of all activities for all family members. It is also difficult to schedule activities and share information with people outside the family.

[0007] US Patent Publication No. 2009/187814 (Al), entitled "Method and apparatus for managing calendar information from a shared database and managing calendar information from multiple users" (Palmsource), discloses a system for accessing shared (family) calendar information via portable computer systems. However, this system requires synchronization of information from multiple users, for example,

synchronization of hand held devices via a desktop. US2002/063732 "Electronic Calendar System" (Nokia), discloses a system that is similar to that of Palmsource, in that it requires periodic synchronization of different communication devices.

[0008] Business solutions for scheduling of activities and calendars for groups of individuals are available, e.g., from Doodle AG and Tungle Corporation. For example, US Patent Publication No. US2010/0146058, entitled "Method for Providing a Meeting Scheduling Service" (Doodle) provides a business appointment scheduler, but this scheduler is not suited for households. It asks the user to suggest various times/dates for a meeting, invite participants and send. The participants then vote on a time that works for them. The user sees the votes by time and picks the most appropriate time. US Patent Publication No. US2010/0180212, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Sharing Calendar Information" (Tungle) is more directed to the business market. This application provides for sharing of a free/busy calendar for everyone, and provides for integration with calendars such as Outlook, Lotus, and Google calendar.

[0009] Employee scheduling solutions are available e.g. from Hotschedules.com and Whentowork.com. However, such business solutions are far too complex and expensive to be considered for home use, and they are not directed to managing typical household or family activities, involving a relatively small group of participants of all ages.

[0010] Thus, many households and families still use a conventional family notice board and wall calendar for monitoring and organizing household activities, e.g. calendar items, appointments and tasks. Scheduling activities within the household, or with others, typically involves coordinating different individual schedules, and several emails, phone calls or voice mail tag to check on availability and confirm appointments of one or more participants. Any changes or updates have to be similarly re-negotiated. Reliability of the posted information depends on the wall calendar being maintained and updated promptly. Important information may be obscured by printed notices, sticky-notes, or other clutter. Also, it is difficult to monitor and organize household activities when away from the household, for example, when at work or on vacation.

[0011] Thus, there is a need for alternative or improved social networking solutions, particularly focused on household groups and families, which provide systems and methods for scheduling and planning activities within a household and for connecting with contacts in other online households.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0012] The present invention seeks to eliminate, or at least mitigate, the disadvantages of these known solutions, systems and methods, or provide an alternative.

[0013] Thus, aspects of the invention provide a social network, and systems and methods for managing activities, information and calendars within a household group and with connections or contacts in another household.

[0014] More particularly, the social network is centred around a household group, such as a family group, and systems and methods provide for scheduling and planning activities, such as tasks, to-do lists, events and appointments, within a household, using a household group calendar. [0015] Other aspects of the invention relate to facilitating communications and management of activities with contacts in other households. This network solution also potentially makes it easier for household members to schedule activities which may involve other external groups, such as schools, businesses and community centres.

5 [0016] One aspect of the invention provides a social network structure for managing household group activities and calendars, comprising: a household group centric membership structure comprising a plurality of household groups wherein each household group comprises one or more members of the household group, and wherein each household group is assigned unique household group identity; each member of the o household group has a respective identity which is associated with (i.e. linked to or connected with) their respective household group identity; and at least one member is designated as a household group administrator; database means for storing and managing at least identity, communication preferences, and calendar information for the household group and for each member of the household group, and access controls for managing5 (e.g. accessing, displaying, viewing, storing, sharing, et al.) household group information on a household group basis in accordance with permissions set for each individual member of the household by the respective household group administrator.

[0017] Advantageously, calendar information for all members of the household group is linked to provide a unified view of group activities and activities involving one or more o members of the household group. A filtered view of activities of one or more selected members may also be provided. Thus, for example, group members can see how they are impacted by other members' activities.

[0018] Access to view calendar information for a household group may be restricted to members of the household group only.

5 [0019] The network structure may be implemented as a server system comprising a database means for storing information and a computer readable medium storing instructions, i.e. software or a computer program, for defining the household group centric membership structure and providing access controls for managing information comprising the household calendar. The system may, for example, be based on a Model0 View Controller (MVC) architecture. [0020] A household group typically includes several individual members, such as a family or other group of people sharing a dwelling or residential unit. A household group may comprise only one member, e.g. a single person. The household group may include members such as young children or others without email or internet access. It may also 5 include pets.

[0021] Since household names may not be unique, members of a household group are connected or linked by a unique household group ID. Each member of the household has a unique user ID, and with some exceptions, each member also has a unique

communication address, i.e. email address. At least one member of a household group is o designated as a household administrator, to manage the household membership and group information, and manage a household group calendar and activities.

[0022] Calendar information for confirmed events or activities may be represented graphically as blocks, i.e. for a particular date or time slots. Calendar information may also comprise activity requests (suggestions) comprising a plurality of availability5 instances, i.e. suggested dates and time slots for a proposed activity of a particular

duration, and associated information about the activity and invited participants. Activity requests may be shared with (i.e. sent to) participants who are contacts in other household groups. On selection by a participant of an availability instance within an activity request, the activity is confirmed for the accepted date and time slot in the household group o calendar of each participant, and other alternative available time slots are released.

[0023] Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for managing activities and calendars of multiple users of a server system serving a social network comprising a plurality of household groups, wherein each household group comprises one or more members, the method comprising:

5 for each household group:

assigning to each household group a unique household group ID; linking each member of a household group to the respective household group ID; linking an identity of each member of the household group to the respective household group identity;

storing information comprising at least identities, communication preferences, and 0 calendar information for the household group and for each member of the household group, said information being associated with the unique household group ID; controlling access to said information for managing household group information on a household group basis and in accordance with permissions set for each individual member of the household by a respective household group administrator.

[0024] The method may comprise linking calendar information of all members of a household group and generating:

a) a unified view of calendar information comprising group activities and activities involving one or more members of the household group, or b) a filtered view of calendar information comprising activities involving a selected member or members.

[0025] Access to calendar information for a household group may be restricted to members of the household group only.

[0026] The method may comprise generating an activity request (or suggestion), comprising a plurality of availability instances, a duration of a proposed activity and associated information about the activity and participants. The plurality of availability instances may comprise a plurality of time slots for the proposed activity duration, within one or more available time windows, on one or more dates. Finding or negotiating a mutually convenient time slot for an activity is facilitated by offering multiple availability instances, e.g. several available time windows or time slots, from which a participant or invitee may select a time slot of the appropriate duration for the proposed activity.

[0027] Managing activity requests may include sending activity requests by email or otherwise sharing with participants who are contacts in other household groups. For acceptance of an activity request by a participant, the method comprises selection by the participant of a time slot offered by availability instance and confirming the activity for the accepted date and time slot in the household group calendar of each participant, and releasing other alternative available timeslots.

[0028] Creating, managing and displaying activities and activity requests in a household group calendar may be based on connections and permissions established between members of the household group, e.g. access permissions set by a household group administrator and/or the creator of the activity. [0029] The method may comprise creating, managing and/or displaying an activity request wherein the activity request is accessible to others on an activity and contact specific basis set by the individual member.

[0030] Displaying activity blocks in a calendar user interface may comprise graphically 5 displaying participant and/or event information in each activity block, and may comprise displaying distinct mini-icons or other visual attributes representing each participant in the activity.

[0031 ] Yet another aspect of the invention provides a system for implementing methods described in this application. Thus, a system is provided for managing group activitieso and calendars, comprising: a database layer and an application layer; the application layer assigning to each household group a unique identity, and assigning a respective identity to each member of a household group; and designating at least one member of the household group as a household group administrator; the database layer storing information comprising at least identity, communication preferences and calendar5 information for each of a plurality of household groups, each household group having a unique identity and comprising one or more members, each member of a household group being linked by the respective unique household group identity; and the application layer further controlling access for managing stored information on a per household group basis and in accordance with permissions set for individual members of the o household group by a household group administrator.

[0032] Advantageously, the application layer provides for creating, managing and displaying calendar information comprising activities in a household group calendar based on permissions established between members of the household group. It provides for linking of calendar information of each member of a household group and generating5 a graphical user interface for displaying a calendar view comprising: a unified view of calendar information comprising all group activities and all activities involving one or more individual members, or a filtered view of calendar information comprising activities for a selected member or members of a household group. Access to calendar information for a household group may be restricted to members of the household group only.

o [0033] The application layer may further be configured for generating activity requests

(suggestions), each comprising a plurality of availability instances, a duration for a proposed activity, and associated information about the activity and participants. The system may further comprise connections between users enabling members of a household to have contacts in other household groups. These connections provide for sharing activity requests, e.g. by email, with participants who are contacts in other

5 household groups. On acceptance of an activity request by a participant, that is on

selection of an availability instance, such as a particular time slot within an available time window, the activity is confirmed for the selected time slot and displayed in the household group calendar of each participant, and other alternative available time slots are released.

o [0034] The system provides for creating, managing and displaying calendar information comprising a confirmed activity or an activity request in a household group calendar, based on permissions established between members of the household group, e.g. as set by a household group administrator and/or the creator of the activity. An activity request may be made accessible to others on an activity and contact specific basis set by the

5 individual member.

[0035] The system may provide for selected calendar information comprising activities (i.e. current activities of interest, busy time) and availability information (free time) and other information about the household group and its members, such as location, age group of family members, etc., to be used to obtain suggestions for new activities which o may be of interest, while maintaining user privacy according to access controls or

permissions set by the user (i.e. household group or individual).

[0036] Other aspects of the invention provide a software product comprising a computer readable medium storing instructions for implementing method steps in a processor of a server system or an electronic calendar system.

5 [0037] Another aspect of the invention provides a software product, i.e. a computer readable medium storing instructions for execution in a processor, for implementing the method steps in a server system or electronic calendar system such as described herein.

[0038] Another aspect of the invention provides an electronic calendar system for implementing the method steps described herein. The calendar system may comprise a o graphical user interface for presenting unified views and filtered views of the household calendar information. [0039] Yet another aspect of the invention provides a method for managing activity requests in an electronic calendar system for a plurality of users wherein each user has a user calendar, the method comprising: receiving from a user a request to initiate a new activity request; prompting the user for inputs comprising at least one user contact

5 (invitee), an activity identification, an activity duration and a plurality of availability instances (i.e. available time windows and time slots); sending the activity request to each invitee; prompting each invitee for a response; on receiving from an invitee a request to accept the activity request, prompting the user to select an availability instance offered in the activity request and to select a time slot of the activity duration within the selected o availability instance; on receiving user input selecting a time slot, confirming the activity in the respective time slot of the calendars of the user and the invitee.

[0040] The method may further comprise, after receiving input from an invitee selecting an availability instance, displaying to the invitee a calendar view comprising a selected availability instance in a corresponding time window within the calendar view,

5 comprising a one or more time slots of the activity duration, and prompting the invitee to select from the one or more of time slots.

[0041] The method may further comprise awaiting responses from any other invitee or invitees, deleting the activity request when responses are received from all invitees, or on expiry of the activity request.

o [0042] The method may further comprise receiving user input from an invitee to ignore, or otherwise refuse the activity request, and if the invitee is the only invitee, deleting the activity request; otherwise removing the invitee from the activity request; and awaiting a response from any other invitee or invitees. For example, the step of prompting each invitee for a response comprises presenting the activity request to the user in a listing 5 associated with the calendar of the invitee, or presenting the activity request to the invitee in a calendar view associated with the calendar of the invitee. The method optionally comprises presenting the activity request to the user in a listing associated with the calendar of the invitee, wherein the listing provides an indication of whether or not each availability instance is free or busy in the invitee's calendar. The step of displaying to o the invitee a calendar view may comprise displaying to the invitee a calendar view in a household group calendar of a household group, such as described herein. [0043] Particular embodiments of the invention provide methods for displaying and managing information relating to activities of members of a household and their contacts or connections, for scheduling of activities using activity requests or suggestions comprising a plurality of availability instances, and a household group calendar showing planned or scheduled activities. Features may include:

-for a household group, managing or displaying activity requests for an individual household member for a specific activity, dependent on contact and activity (i.e.

availability instances which are time slots in a calendar that are made available on a contact and activity/purpose specific basis);

-in a household/group calendar providing one or more unified calendar views filtered for an individual's activities and/or for group/shared activities;

-in an individual calendar or group calendar, displaying calendar entries (activities) comprising one or both of participant information and event information wherein individual participants and/or event information are each displayed/represented as mini- icons or other graphics in the calendar entry/activity slot in the calendar.

[0044] Thus, the group centric network architecture, systems and methods, and particularly a shared household group calendar and use of activity requests comprising a plurality of availability instances, facilitate scheduling, coordinating and planning of shared or group activities of the household and/or of individual members of the household group.

[0045] The network structure also facilitates communications and coordinating activities involving connections or contacts who are members of other household groups. This facilitates organizing activities with other family groups and friends or extended family, for example.

[0046] The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of preferred embodiments of the invention, which description is by way of example only. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0047] In the drawings, the drawings, identical or corresponding elements in the different Figures have the same reference numeral

[0048] Figure 1, labeled Prior Art, illustrates schematically a conventional social network showing links between individuals in the social network;

[0049] Figure 2 illustrates schematically a network diagram for a social network according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 3 illustrates schematically an example of a representation of a household group, comprising four family members, for a network according the first embodiment;

[0051] Figure 4 illustrates schematically a representation of a household network of the embodiment, showing five exemplary household groups, each comprising at least one individual member, and having connections between individuals in these households;

[0052] Figure 5 shows a table representing household group information and

membership for two of the exemplary household groups shown in Figure 4;

[0053] Figure 6 illustrates schematically a graphical user interface for a system according to an embodiment of the system, showing a system signup/login page for existing and new members;

[0054] Figure 7 illustrates schematically another graphical user interface for the system of the embodiment, displaying a shared calendar view for the household group, in which users who are household group members can view activities or events for all other household members or alternatively select filters to view activities for a selected member or members of the household;

[0055] Figure 8 illustrates schematically how a plurality of activity requests of a user are offered to schedule activities with a selected connected contact or contacts for a method for scheduling activities according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0056] Figure 9 illustrates schematically a user interface for the system of the embodiment showing an example of how an activity request comprising a plurality of availability instances is created and presented in the calendar view, by specification by the user of an activity name, one or more recipients or participants, an activity duration and availability instances, and any other relevant information, depending on the nature of the activity, such as, mode of communication or contact information or location of an event;

[0057] Figure 10 illustrates schematically a user interface for the system of the embodiment showing how a listing of activity requests, created by a user and sent to one or more of the user' s contacts, is presented for review by the user;

[0058] Figure 11 illustrates schematically a user interface for the system of the embodiment showing how a listing of activity requests received from a user's contacts, for various activities, may be displayed to the user;

[0059] Figure 12A illustrates schematically a user interface for the system of the embodiment comprising a calendar view presenting an available time window for a selected activity request;

[0060] Figure 12B illustrates schematically part of the calendar view of Figure 12A together with a window opened after clicking on the available time window in the calendar to select a time and confirm an activity;

[0061] Figure 13 illustrates schematically a graphical user interface for presenting information for a member of a household group comprising a plurality of members; and [0062] Figure 14 shows a flow chart representing method steps for a method according to an embodiment of the invention for managing activity requests comprising a plurality of availability instances for scheduling an activity for a user and one or more connections or contacts (invitees).

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0063] A conventional social network 100 comprising a number of individual users 102 (User 1 ... User n) and connections or links 104 between individual users is illustrated schematically in Figure 1. This type of social network structure is typical of social networks for individuals, such as Facebook™ and Linkedln™, or other networks that are offered for individual users. After registering to the network, each user may request and form links or connections with other individual users, e.g. to allow individual members to communicate or to view content in another member's profile or pages. Optionally, individuals may then also sign up to various groups, e.g. with shared interests. [0064] As illustrated in Figures 2 to 12, a social network system 200, according to an embodiment of the present invention, is more particularly structured around household groups and facilitates managing group activities or shared activities and managing a shared or household group calendar. In particular, it allows members to more readily 5 schedule activities and share content with other household members and with

connections or contacts in other household groups.

[0065] Figure 2 illustrates schematically a network diagram for a social network system 200 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, called Jempler™. The Jempler system comprises a server system comprising one or more web servers 204, l o comprising an application layer 206 and database storage 208. Individual users 202 (i.e.

User 1...User n) can connect to the Jempler server 204 from any suitable internet connected device 210, such as a personal computer, tablet, or smartphone. Each user is registered to a household group which is identified by a unique household group ID, e.g. Group 1, Group 2, ...Group m. Each member of a household group has a user ID, e.g.

15 User 1 , ...User n, that is connected to the respective household group ID.

[0066] The server system 200 is centered on the database 208, i.e. the Jempler™ database, which together with the application layer 206 forms the core of the system. The system may, for example, be based on a Model View Controller (MVC) architecture.

20 [0067] While a single server is illustrated in Figure 2 for simplicity, it will be

appreciated that the system may alternatively comprise a distributed server system comprising a network of servers 204 to accommodate a large number of users.

[0068] The system may typically be a service provider server system, e.g. a hosted server or distributed server network, for access by users from multiple households. For each

25 household group, the database 208 stores household group information and individual household member information, including calendar information, which is made accessible to a household group and household members per the rules (or permissions) of the respective household. Conveniently, the calendar information is accessible via a suitable interface, i.e. a graphical user interface that may take the form of a

3 o household/family main page, which displays a household group calendar, as will be

described in detail below. [0069] Figure 3 illustrates schematically an example of a representation of one household group 300 having a household group ID 4641234 with four members. In this case the household group is a family, the Smith family, comprising four family members. Members in the household are indicated, i.e. the household comprises parents, father and 5 mother, 310 and 304 who each have individual emails and household administrator

(Admin) roles, and two non-administrator members, i.e. children 306 and 308. Each of the parents can login individually using e.g. their individual email addresses and this status is indicated as Login: Yes. The older child 306 also has his own email for login to the system. The younger child 308 does not yet have an individual email, and her 0 activities are managed by the parents so her login status is indicated as Login:No. (In

Figure 3, members with an email are represented in solid outline, administrators in heavy solid outline, and the non-email member is represented in dotted outline). The family name Smith 302, and their group name "The Smith Family" need not be unique, because the family is assigned a unique household group ID, e.g. 4641234. Each member of the 5 household group, has a unique user ID within their own group, which may simply be their own name or nickname, since their Jempler membership is dependent on and linked to the household group ID. Each member or user ID, whether an email or non-email member (indicated by Login: Yes or No), must be associated with the household group ID, so that the household group exists as a logical entity within the Jempler network o system. The household group ID links each member to the household and allows for household group calendar information to be provided for managing activities of all members of the household group.

[0070] The Jempler network is particularly directed to assisting with scheduling and coordinating activities of a typical household, such as a family with children. However,5 as will be appreciated, a household may comprise another group of individuals, and many households may comprise a single individual. A "household" may comprise a household group of one or more members of a residential unit, dwelling, for example. In the Jempler system, a household of one will require a household ID, household name, and a name/user ID for its one member. Larger households of two or more individuals require a o unique name/user ID for each member of the household group. [0071] Figure 4 illustrates schematically a household group centric network 400 according to the embodiment comprising five household groups: 300, 410, 420, 430 and 440, each comprising at least one individual member. Some representative examples of connections 402 and 404 between individuals in different household groups are shown. 5 The above described Smith family 300 (Figure 3) is shown in the centre. Susan Smith, as a single person, is a household group of one 440.

[0072] Figure 5 shows information, in table form 500, comprising group and individual information for two of these exemplary households, the Smith family 300, with Group ID shown in box 460, and Susan's single household 440 with household group ID 46412 o shown in box 470. As shown in Figure 4, the Smith family parents 310, 304, each have connections 402 to individuals in other households. The older son Mathew 306 has connections 404 with children in two other households, i.e. the Parker family 410, and the Kent family 420. There is another family 430, the Jones household, which is a household group of three, e.g. a parent who has email login and is an administrator, and5 two young children who do not yet have email login access. Members of both

households 430 and 440 each have a connection with one of the parents 304 in the Smith family 300.

[0073] Individuals in each household group may communicate with their individual contacts through their personal email or phone, as is conventional. However, the o existence of the household group ID and a household group administrator, together with a household group calendar, allows for novel methods of managing shared activities of the household group and/or coordinating activities of individual members within the household group.

[0074] The following rules are defined for the Jempler system of this embodiment.5

[0075] General

• Each household group has a name, usually their group or family name. Since such names may not be unique (i.e. the Smith Family), each household group must be also be assigned a unique household group ID.

0 · Each member of the household has a unique user/member ID within their household group (usually their name or nickname), and most members of the household will have an email address. Each member's email address must be unique and should be associated with only one household group ID. (i.e., in this example, each member can belong to only one household group).

• During "signup", the system checks if a new user's email exists in the

Jempler system:

If no - the user account is added. If the user has received an invitation from an existing household group, more information may be provided about the group (e.g. location, members, etc.). The user has the option to join an existing household group (usually by invitation) or to create a new household group.

If yes - the user is sent back to the login screen saying the account already exists.

• If the household group has only 1 member then the name of the household group and member of the household may be the same. For example, in Figure 4, Susan could simply call her household "Susan" or "Susan Smith".

• Each member's unique user ID is associated with, or linked to, their

household group ID to form a logical group, of one or more members, within the Jempler system.

[0076] Privileges

[0077] Each member of the household is assigned user privileges or permissions which determine how they can interact with the system, e.g. what information they can change, or view, how information is displayed in the individual member's own calendar, and how information may be shared or viewed in the household group calendar. Permissions for operations such as create, edit, view, delete (or other required operations) may depend on the role of the member in the household and whether or not they have administrator privileges.

[0078] Household Group Members (i.e. regular members, not Administrator) privileges or rules allow the members to;

[0079] Manage their own information

• Add/edit their own profile pictures. • Add/Edit other personal information (e.g. age, phone number if different from the main household number) also control privacy settings on each piece of information.

• Set permissions on personal information.

• Change their own required information (name and email) or optional

information (gender, age, etc.).

[0080] Manage their own membership

• Leave a household group - e.g. by accepting an invitation from another group administrator or forming a new household group (i.e. all users must be a member of a household group).

[0081] Manage their own calendar information and activities in the group calendar

• Edit/delete their own activities only.

• Change their own color, icon or other identifying attribute on the calendar

• See all household members' calendars (see Privacy note).

• Set a privacy option to disable the administrator(s) from seeing details of the member's own events - however, their activity or event blocks or time slots are seen by the other members.

[0082] Manage their own connection requests/communications

• Accept and send connection requests with other users - also delete connections.

• Accept activity requests (suggestions) from other individual users and other household groups.

• Send activity requests for themselves only (not for others in their own

household group).

• Request access to another household group only by requesting the group administrator of their own household to initiate contact by sending an invitation to the other household first.

[0083] Household Group Administrator (Admin) privileges additionally allow the Admin to;

[0084] Manage household group information • Modify group name and other group related information, e.g. phone, important dates, postal code/ZIP code, or other information that may be required or optional.

• Modify group information to be displayed, such as a group name, a group 5 picture

• Control privacy settings on each piece of group related information, i.e. so contacts can access or view based on these privacy settings.

• Create a non-email member (e.g. young child, baby, pet) to schedule and track their activities.

0 · Assign the relationship structure of the group, e.g. a role within the group, such as, father, mother, son, friend, and room-mate, pet; (permissions for members may depend on the role).

• Add/remove administrator privileges to another member in group (however, there must be at least one administrator per group).

5

[0085] Manage the household group calendar

• Change the calendar color, icon or other display attributes for the group or of any member in the group.

• Send activity requests (suggestions) for (i.e. on behalf of) their own group - o once accepted by another party, the confirmed activities will show up in the

individual calendars of each member of the group.

[0086] Control membership of the household group

• Remove group membership of an existing member (i.e. kick-out).

• Invite and approve new members with email addresses (closed membership-5 by default i.e. only by invite).

• Add new members by specific email (checks email in the system, if the email exists, the administrator can invite an existing member into their household after an appropriate validation process.

[0087] A schematic representation of a graphical user interface 600 comprising a sign- o up/login page for existing and new members of the Jempler network is illustrated

schematically in Figure 6. As is conventional, registered users may sign in by entering their email and password in the sign-in bar 602. New users may sign up using the Join Now window 604, which, for example, requests the user's full name, email and password, and/or any other information required for registration. As mentioned above, membership of a household group may be restricted by the administrator of the household group, so as to be by invitation only.

[0088] Referring to the rules above, a household name or family name may not be unique. However, each household has a unique household group ID. A household comprises a group of one or more members. That is, a household group may be a family, but a household group may also be a single person. Usually, each member has a unique email address, although, for example, a young child may be a non-email member. That is, in some cases, a group admininstrator can create a member without an individual email address, e.g. infant or young child, pet, computer illiterate person. Each member ID and member email address will be associated with the household group ID. That is, a household group is a logical entity within the Jempler system, and each member belongs to a respective household group.

[0089] Shared household group calendar

[0090] By requiring that the members are linked through the household group ID, the Jempler systems allows for a household group calendar to be created for the household group, comprising each activity (i.e. tasks, appointments or other planned or scheduled activities or events) involving one or more members of the household group.

[0091] Referring to Figure 7, the household group calendar comprises a graphical user interface 700 for displaying a shared calendar view, such as illustrated. In a unified view, such as shown in Figure 7, the entire calendar and all activities involving one or more members is visible to all members, so that each member can see how they are impacted by each other group member's activities.

[0092] As is conventional, the calendar information may be displayed as a weekly view 700, e.g. Monday to Sunday, with time slots 710 indicated for each day; alternatively a daily or monthly view may be displayed, for example. Additionally, the household group calendar view provides for a unified view of each members activities, as represented in Figure 7, where each family member is assigned a visual identifier 720 such as a colour, shape, symbol, icon, or other visual attribute, i.e. as listed for each member in the window 702. For example, John's golf activity 720 is shown with dotted shading, as indicated by his name in the window 702. His other activity 708 is similarly shaded. For activities with multiple participants, the visual identifiers for each

5 participant are shown in each activity block, e.g. as shown in Family Movie activity 706, so that one or more participants for each activity displayed can easily be recognized.

[0093] Since Figure 7 is represented simply as a black and white line drawing, each participant in an activity is represented by an icon in the form of a block with different cross hatching or patterning to represent different colours. Thus, John's activities, e.g. o 708 are shown as blocks with dotted shading, e.g. to represent green blocks in the

appropriate time slots in the calendar. Jane's activities are shown as cross-hatched, to representing the colour blue, for example. For activities involving all or multiple members, each activity is shown as a single block in the appropriate time slot e.g. 706, with a number of correspondingly hatched or coloured shapes or icons, 720, i.e. to5 indicate each participant. Where there are overlapping appointments in the same time slot(s), the activity blocks may be tiled or overlaid in such a way that each activity block is visible. Thus, a unified view is provided which allows for an "at a glance" view of who is participating in each activity, e.g. as represented by colour coding or icons, even when multiple activities overlap in a particular time slot, or when an activity involves o multiple participants.

[0094] Each registered user who is a member of the household group, e.g. Jane, John, Mathew and Paula in the Smith family, can view activities or events in a unified view showing calendar entries for all other household members, by selecting the "Household" filter 722 in window 702. Alternatively, they can select individual filters 724 to view 5 activities for only one or several selected members of the household.

[0095] For simplicity, the user interface 700 represented in Figure 7 shows only the shared household group calendar. Optionally (not shown in Figure 7), a household group main page may comprise the calendar and optionally also provide additional information, for example, links to other resources such as, family photo albums and other shared0 media, task lists, information and alerts, such as, pending messages and activity requests, with their status. [0096] Planning and scheduling household group activities

[0097] To facilitate scheduling of household group activities, and managing of group activities in the household calendar, the system provides for improved ways to manage group and individual activities by using an enhanced form of activity request, i.e. an invitation or suggestion, comprising a plurality of availability instances.

[0098] An activity request for a particular activity may comprise a plurality of availability instances in the calendar for a proposed activity, together with associated information about the activity and invited participants, and the duration of the activity. Each availability instance comprises a suggested time window of at least the duration of the activity. For example, multiple availability instances may be presented as multiple available time slots for the activity on one date, or one or more respective available time slots on each of several different dates. Each suggested available time window comprises one or more time slots of at least the proposed duration of the activity. For example, for a 30 minute phone call, an activity request may present multiple availability instances by offering an available time window of 2 hours on a particular day, during which any 30 minute time slot may be selected. In another example, a particular 30 minute time slot may be offered on each of 3 separate dates. Thus, the activity request presents participants or invitees with a choice of available time windows, from which the invitee may select a convenient time slot. Negotiation and arrangement of a mutually agreeable or convenient time for an activity is thereby facilitated.

[0099] The group administrator of the household manages activity requests for shared or group activities, and is able to check for conflicts in availabilities when planning or scheduling shared activities for members of the household group. An individual member who wants to schedule their own activity is able to check for conflicts with activities of other members or with group activities.

[00100] Rules for activity requests within the household group include:

• If a member manually creates a new activity request in their calendar, the system will check if there are active activity requests already in the proposed time window or overlapping with the proposed time window that would conflict with the newly created activity. The user will be prompted regarding the conflict. They can decide to reduce the available time(s) in the activity request or leave as is.

• When one member confirms or books a new activity with a connected

contact(s) for a particular time window, any other activity requests for that time window will be reduced accordingly.

[00101] As an example, Jane Smith sends a new activity request or suggestion to a connected contact for going to a movie with two time slots: either 7pm-9pm on

Wednesday or 7pm to 9pm on Friday this week. On creation of the new activity request, the two 7pm to 9pm time windows will appear in her calendar, and in the household group calendar. When her contact accepts the suggestion for Wednesday, the 7pm to 9pm window on Wednesday will be shown as booked in her calendar, and as a confirmed activity for Jane in the group calendar, and that time slot will then become unavailable for other pending suggestions or group activities.

[00102] Connections and communications between individual members of different households groups.

[00103] Members of the household group may form connections with individuals in other households. Individuals in other household groups may form connections with individuals in the household group. However, when there are connections between members of different household groups, they do not have access to each other's household group calendar information.

[00104] That is, a connection with a contact in another household group allows a user to:

• Invite, using an activity request, that contact for an activity - once accepted by user, the activity shows up on both members' calendars;

• View/Share users' "posted thoughts" on a calendar event; and

• Accept/Send tasks to contacts.

[00105] A particular and important feature of the calendar interface is to provide a method of managing and displaying activity requests for specific activities or events and/or for specific individuals, i.e. other members of the household or contacts in other households. Figure 8 illustrates schematically how activity requests comprising a plurality of availability instances are created by a user to schedule activities with a selected connected contact or contacts.

[00106] As represented schematically in Figure 8, a user may access their calendar 802, and generate three activity requests or suggestions 804, which are stored on the Jempler 5 server system 200 and sent to contacts 806 as indicated. That is, activity request 1 is sent to, and viewable by contact A only. Activity request 2 is sent to and viewable by all three contacts A, B and C. Activity request 3 is sent to and viewable by contact C only.

[00107] Managing suggestions or activity requests

l o [00108] Figure 9 illustrates schematically a user interface 900 showing an example of how an activity request (or suggestion), comprising two availability instances, is created by a user in the Jempler system. The user specifies one or more recipients or participants (invitees) in box 902, an activity name in box 904, an activity duration in box 908. The user also specifies a plurality of availability instances, in this case two availability

15 instances 914 and 916. The availability instances 914 and 916 may be entered and listed in the window 920. The time windows of the availability instances 914 and 916 are also displayed in the respective time slots for each day in the calendar. The window 906 may optionally display comments, e.g. any other relevant information, depending on the nature of the activity, such as, mode of communication, contact information or location

20 of an event.

[00109] The calendar view 900 can be used to select one or more time slots or windows, for the proposed activity. For example, two potential time slots can be selected by selecting time slots 914 and 916 on the calendar display, and/or by entering information for one or more dates and time windows in the box 920.

25 [00110] Optionally, instead of an interface such as illustrated in Figure 9, a wizard (not shown) for managing activity requests may be provided that prompts the user for the required information in an easy to use format.

[00111] Figure 10 shows schematically a user interface 1000 showing a listing of activity requests 1006 created by a user, and sent to contacts, to illustrate some examples 30 of how these activity requests may be displayed to the user who created them. The first listing is an activity request for lunch, sent to an individual connected contact in another household. This listing is shown in expanded form indicating some comments with details of the activity, and two availability instances, i.e. available time windows 1004 for the lunch with the connected contact. The duration of the activity is selected as 60 minutes, but each availability instance offers a larger time window of 90 minutes. Thus, the invitee is offered a choice of availability instances and may select a time slot of the activity duration, within one of the available time windows. The second listing is shown as an activity request for a 30 minute activity, with three available time slots, sent to a three contacts. The third listing is an activity request for a home dinner invitation for a duration of 120 minutes, sent to another household group, with 5 available times indicated. The user interface includes a button 1002 to initiate creation of a new activity request, and buttons that provide options to edit or delete existing activity requests.

[00112] Figure 11 illustrates schematically how a listing of activity requests received by a user from a user's contacts, i.e. invitations for various activities, may be displayed to the user. For each activity request, the user may select an activity request, e.g. 1102 or 1104 by clicking on the activity request. The user is then offered a choice of several available time windows, as shown for 1104, for example. The user selects a time slot of the proposed activity duration in one of the available time windows to confirm or book the activity and schedule the activity into his/her own calendar.

[00113] Information for each activity request or suggestion is provided to the recipient to show the contact name (i.e. an individual or a group), activity, duration, available time slot(s) and date(s). Comments may be included with further information from the sender. As shown in Figure 11, the first suggestion 1102 is an individual invitation to the user from a connected contact for dinner, duration 60 minutes, and offering availability for two time slots, which are also indicted to be free in the user's calendar. The second suggestion 1104 is for a phone call, of 30 minutes duration, offering 3 potential time slots or availability instances. Two of the time slots are indicated to be available in the user's calendar but the third is not free/busy. Again, although the activity request is for a duration of only 30 minutes, the available time windows are offered for a larger time range and the user can select any 30 minute time slot within the available time windows offered. The user clicks on an activity request to select it and show details, and can then select an available time window. The user may alternatively choose to ignore the request, or delete it.

[00114] Figure 12A shows another graphical user interface 1200 displaying a calendar view showing a selected time window 1202 within an activity request in the user's 5 household calendar. This view may be accessed, for example, when the user clicks on a selected time window within an activity request in the user interface with a listing of activity requests received, e.g. as shown in Figure 11. When the calendar view 12A is displayed, the user can see other scheduled activities in the calendar view, together with a new pending activity request 1202 in dotted outline, for example. The user may click on i o the activity request 1202 to accept the activity request.

[00115] As illustrated schematically in Figure 12B, when the user (invitee) clicks on the pending activity request 1202 in the calendar view 1200 (similar to Figure 12 A), a new window 1252 opens, to allow the user to select a time slot within the time window 1254 having beginning and end times 1256 and 1258 as shown, i.e. 2pm to 4pm. If the

15 selected time window is greater than the duration of the activity, the user then has to

select a time slot of the duration of the activity, i.e. selects the start time and end time, to confirm the activity in the calendar. In the example shown in Figure 12B, the proposed duration of the phone call in the activity request is 30 minutes, and thus a 30 minute time slot 1260 is automatically indicated in the time window 1254. The the user can select

20 any 30 minute time slot 1260 within the time window 1254 by sliding the time slot

graphic 1260 up or down. Alternatively, the user may entering a selected start or end time in the window 1262. Once the activity is confirmed, e.g. by selecting the confirm button, 1265, the activity is confirmed in the user's calendar, the Jempler server system 200 also updates the calendar of the host user and any other invitee users. The steps

25 performed by the server system for managing an activity request comprising multiple availability instances are also described in more detail below, with reference to Figure 14.

[00116] Information for a household, family or individual within a household may alternatively be shown in a graphical form, as shown schematically in Figure 13, which illustrates contact information and other personal information for one of the members of

30 a another Smith family with four members. This view may, for example, allow for

details of the connected household or individual member of the household to be edited, and may also provide a button to initiate a new activity request to schedule an activity with this particular individual contact by creating a new activity request.

[00117] The listings of suggestions or activity requests comprising multiple availability instances as represented in Figures 10 and 11 are shown by way of example only. This information may be displayed or presented to the host user and invitee user in other user interfaces in other convenient layouts or forms. Activity requests with a single availability instance may also be created.

[00118] If required, permissions may be set to allow only invited participants to view details of suggestions. Generally, a household would set permissions to restrict access to the unified view of their household group calendar so that those from other household groups could not see it. Available time slots may be shared with others selectively, e.g. based on member identity and activity. The use of activity requests, therefore, provides improved ways for individually managing availabilities and arranging activities, while maintaining an appropriate level of privacy. Thus, permissions for access to the household group calendar can be set to avoid or reduce problems with conventional shared calendars that reveal details of all busy and free time to anyone who has access.

[00119] A group suggestion or activity request shows up in the individual calendar and activity request listings of any one of the recipients (i.e. each invitee). When the group suggestion is accepted by another party, the confirmed suggestion will show up in all group members' individual calendars, i.e. as a confirmed activity block in the selected time slot.

[00120] Only the group administrator can send activity requests (suggestions) on behalf of their entire group. Once the activity request for the group is accepted by other party in another household group (i.e. the other household group administrator or an individual in the other household group) it will show up in the individual calendars of all group members, and be represented in the unified group calendar view as a shared group activity, i.e. with respective icons representing which members of the household are participating in the activity.

[00121] When a group suggestion is received by another household group, any member in the other household group can accept a group invitation i.e. even if the member of the other household is not a group administrator. However, the member may accept a suggestion from the other household group for themselves only. Only the group administrator may respond on behalf of the entire group. If a member is not a household administrator, he may accept an invitation from an individual in another household group. For example, a 17-year old can accept an invitation from his 18-year old buddy, who in Jempler is represented as a group of 1 (single), without requiring involvement of his group administrator. That is, any member in a group can accept a group invitation from another group administrator, because it is possible that there can be a household group of 1 , or household group of two or more with only one email member (comprising a toddler or other non-email members, for example).

[00122] Figure 14 shows a flow chart illustrating how an activity request comprising a plurality of availability instances (i.e. time windows) is managed by system 200 of the embodiment. For example, a user initiates a new activity request, by clicking the "New Activity Request" button 1002 on interface 1000 (Figure 10). As illustrated in Figure 14, system 200 receives the request for a new activity at step 1410. The user is prompted at step 1415 for inputs of the names of the invitees (from the user's contacts), activity name, a time duration for the activity and a plurality of available time windows containing one or more time slots of at least the time duration of the activity. At 1425, the user inputs are checked and validated or returned to the user for correction at step 1420. If valid, at step 1430, the activity request is sent to the invitee or invitees. At step 1435, the pending activity request is displayed to the recipient, i.e. to invitee, for example in a listing of pending activity requests, next to the invitee's calendar. The system then awaits a response, step 1435. The system may receive input from the invitee to ignore the activity request (step 1440). For example, a user may choose to respond by ignoring the request 1450, deleting it 1460, or accepting the request 1470.

[00123] If the invitee chooses to accept the activity request, the system receives input from the user, at step 1470, comprising a user selection at of one of the available time windows offered. The invitee is then asked to select a time slot within the time window, i.e. by selecting the start and/or end time for the required duration, and confirms the activity, and these inputs are received by the system at step 1472. At this point 1474 the system books the activity as a confirmed activity in the respective time slot in the calendars of both the invitee user and the host user who initiated the activity request. The system then checks if the invitee is the only invitee 1476, and if so, deletes the pending activity request 1462 after the activity is confirmed in the calendars of the host and invitee. However, if there are other invitees, the system reduces the available times on the pending activity request accordingly 1480, i.e. to limit the activity request to the 5 selected time slot, and awaits responses from the other invitees 1440. If required, an option may also be provided for an invitee to tentatively accept an activity request.

[00124] If the invitee user does not want to accept an activity request, the system may receive input 1450 from the user to ignore the request 1450 or may receive input 1460 from a user to delete a request the activity request. If the invitee selects to delete or ignoreo the activity request, 1450 or 1460, and the user is the only invitee, the request will be deleted, step 1462. If the system receives user input to ignore the activity request 1450, the system will check if there are other invitees, at step 1452. If there is any other invitee or invitees, the invitee ignoring the activity request is deleted 1454 and the system awaits responses from other invitees 1440.

5 [00125] Alternative embodiments

[00126] Although a particular embodiment of the Jempler system is described above in detail, it will be appreciated that alternative embodiments may provide for variations and alternative implementations.

[00127] If a household group wants to use only one email address, e.g. a family email o address, then they could create non-email members for each of its members to track

activities separately within a household or family calendar.

[00128] Jempler messages may be internal or external and sent via email, or in alternative embodiments, another communication mode, such as SMS or instant messaging, may be used.

5 [00129] Thus, the household group centric network architecture and associated systems provides for a household group calendar, that facilitates scheduling, coordinating and planning of shared or group activities of the household group and/or of individual members of the household group (i.e. within the household). The group calendar information is preferably presented as part of a user interface displaying a household o group home page comprising the shared household group calendar. The calendar may be provided on a home page, for example, which optionally provides links for other shared information or resources, e.g. a family photo album. The calendar may provide options for selecting a unified household group view showing all activities for all members, or filtered views for selected individual member(s) activities only. Preferably, unified views of the group activities may be selected based on various options, e.g. a unified view of different individual activities or a unified view of shared activities. In a unified view of different activities, each activity may be colour coded by individual member, i.e. some attribute such as colour, pattern or texture as described above. Alternatively, mini-icons may represent each household member participating in an activity. A graphic such as an icon may also be displayed to indicate the type of activity or event.

[00130] The calendar interface provides information on availability, confirmed appointments for each member, with appropriate identification such as colour coding. The calendar interface may show pending requests from within the household or from another household or member (un-confirmed) with availabilities associated with those requests. Thus, the interface for the calendar view shows confirmed and unconfirmed activities together with icons, or other graphical indications, representing which members are involved.

[00131] Each household group controls its membership, and has one or more

administrator(s). Each member of the household group must be registered, or sign up, to the household group with at least basic identification and communication information, such as name and email address. Each member may have a role, e.g. administrator (usually a parent), or a relationship or connection within the family, i.e. parent, other adult, teenager, young child, caregiver, et al., that determines rules for permissions or user privileges that are set for each member of the household by the administrator.

[00132] Operations/functions include planning and monitoring household activities for household group activities and activities of individuals in the household and scheduling activities with individuals from other household groups such as friends and family (external connections).

[00133] Standard calendar information for dates and time slots may be displayed in any conventional manner, i.e. daily, weekly, monthly views. However, details of activities and their participants will be displayed for viewing based on permissions for the household group view. [00134] As is conventional, activities such as appointments or meetings may be displayed by blocks in the relevant time slots, with a brief description such as music lesson, swimming, teacher/parent interview, dinner with grandparents, etc. Additionally, the participant or participants in each activity block are indicated by including the icon 5 for each participant in a group activity, or a corresponding icon or colour coding in the activity block if there is only one participant. Where multiple activities overlap time slots, the activity blocks may be suitably tiled or overlaid to display information for each activity. Depending on permissions, such as privacy settings, additional details of the activities permitted for viewing by the household group may be displayed, or details of o the activities may be hidden in the household group view.

[00135] Thus, the calendar replaces functionality of a conventional wall calendar and provides additional functions to facilitate monitoring, scheduling, coordination, planning or otherwise managing activities such as appointments, tasks, and meetings for the group and for members of the group. For the calendar, each member may have varying levels5 of permissions or access privileges to create, schedule, confirm or accept activity requests or invitations, and to set availability instances, send messages, etc.

[00136] The household administrator manages household permissions on household information and content (e.g. photo albums). Permissions are household dependent, and can vary by household and by member. An individual's contacts and connections are o made by the individual user.

[00137] Suggestions, meeting requests or invitations can be sent and received, responded to with various options, e.g. accept, tentative and decline. Privileges for requesting and booking (confirming) activities may be controlled by the administrator(s), e.g. a parent, and may require confirmation by the appropriate person, e.g. administrator or group5 member. Individual household members manage their own contacts, calendar items and task items; individuals can read the group calendar and tasks, and can delegate tasks within the group or to contacts.

[00138] Any connected contact can view shared resources, and permitted availability (but, for reasons of privacy, may not be able to view details of individual calendar items)0 and schedule activities. Individuals can request activities/events with a connected contact. On receiving a request, availabilities are updated to/overlaid on the other household calendar.

[00139] Thus, for example, a member may display an availability for a particular time slot or slots (time, duration, expiry, location, description, etc.) specifically for a family or group event (only administrators can issue group requests), or for a particular meeting request. But such time may appear as not available or busy with respect to requests for other activities. Thus, individuals can prioritize activity requests dependent on a specific activity, e.g. a parent may indicate availability for a visit or phone call at home after school, but be available or busy for activities outside the home, since the children cannot be left alone. Activity requests can be set to expire. Thus, activity requests provide a filtered view of available times in an individual's calendar, which can show different availability for different occasions or activities.

[00140] A hierarchy of confirmed individual or group activities supercedes other available time slots. The household administrator can manage availability for the household group. An individual member can manage only their own availability. A member or the administrator can set permissions to view or otherwise manage activity requests, or set expiries.

The definition of activity requests provides uniqueness in the inheritance of confirmed group activities, presence of activity requests, and assigning activity requests and visibility (i.e. a filtered view) of activity requests (who sees what).

[00141] For a specific activity, participant members for that activity may be one or more individual members and/or one or more members of other households.

[00142] This network solution also potentially makes it easier for household members to schedule activities which may involve other external groups, such as schools, businesses and community centres.

[00143] Other conventional calendar functionality such as reminders regarding appointments, birthdays, etc. may be provided.

[00144] The system may optionally provide for calendar information comprising activities and availability instances for a household group and/or individual members to be used, together with other information, such as the demographics of the household group and its location, as a basis to search for activities and events of interest to the household group and/or its members or to generate suggestions for such activities. For example individuals, families or other household groups may wish to generate a user profile with selected user information and/or activity requests to access information on suggested activities which may be of interest, for particular dates or times. Privacy may be preserved by setting permissions to allow only selected calendar information or other information to be made available for generation of such suggestions.

[00145] INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[00146] A social networking system and solution is provided which is particularly focused on household groups and families. The household group focused network provides for systems and methods for managing group and individual activities through a household group calendar, which is particularly useful for scheduling and planning activities within a household and with connections or contacts within other online households.

[00147] This solution provides for management of activities and calendars for a household group and/or for individual members of the household group, and arranging activities with contacts in other on-line households. In particular, an activity request may be created comprising a plurality of availability instances. Users may select a time slot, of the appropriate duration, from one or more available time windows offered in the activity request. Thus negotiation of a convenient or mutually acceptable time for an activity is facilitated.

[00148] The household group calendar and messaging capabilities provide for one or more of the following features:

managing and displaying a shared or household group calendar, e.g. to provide unified views on a per household group or per individual member basis;

creating, managing and displaying availabilities on an activity and contact specific basis; and

graphically representing/displaying, in a calendar user interface, participant and event information, (e.g. using distinctive colours, mini-icons) for each participant and/or to represent an activity. [00149] Although embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and not to be taken by way of limitation, the scope of the present invention being limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for managing activities and calendars for a plurality of users of a server system serving a social network comprising a plurality of household groups, and wherein each household group comprises one or more members, the method comprising:

5 for each household group:

assigning to the household group a unique household group identity; linking an identity of each member of the household group to the respective household group identity; designating at least one member of the household group as a household group

l o administrator; storing, in a database layer of the server system, information comprising at least identities, communication preferences, and calendar information for the household group and for each member of the household group, said information being associated with the unique household group identity;

15 controlling access to said information for managing household group information on a household group basis and in accordance with permissions set for each individual member of the household by a respective household group administrator.

2. A method according to claim 1 comprising linking calendar information of all members of a household group and generating:

20 a) a unified view of calendar information comprising group activities and activities involving one or more members of the household group; or

b) a filtered view of calendar information comprising activities involving a selected member or members.

3. A method according to claim 2 comprising restricting access to calendar information 25 for a household group to members of the household group only.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein calendar information further comprises activity requests, each activity request for a proposed activity comprising a plurality of availability instances, an activity duration, and associated information about the activity and participants.

5. A method according to claim 4 comprising sharing selected activity requests with participants who are contacts in other household groups.

6. A method according to claim 4 wherein the plurality of availability instances comprise a plurality of time slots of the proposed activity duration, within one or more available time windows, on one or more dates.

7. A method according to claim 6 comprising, on acceptance of an activity request by a participant, confirming the activity for the accepted date and time slot of the activity duration in the household group calendar of each participant, and releasing other alternative available timeslots.

8. A method according to claim 1 comprising: creating, managing and displaying activities in a household group calendar based on connections and permissions established between members of the household group.

9. A method according to claim 1 comprising: creating, managing and displaying an activity involving one or more individual members or the household group, based on access permissions set by household group administrator and/or the creator of the activity.

10. A method according to claim 9 comprising: creating, managing and/or displaying an activity request for an activity of an individual member, wherein said activity request is accessible to others on an activity and contact specific basis set by the individual member.

11. A method according to claim 1 comprising: in a calendar user interface displaying activity blocks, graphically displaying participant and/or event information in each activity block.

12. A method according to claim 11 wherein graphically displaying comprises displaying mini-icons or other visual attributes uniquely representing each participant in the activity.

13. A server system comprising a database layer and an application layer configured for implementing any one of method claims 1 to 12.

5 14. A server system for managing group activities and calendars for a plurality of users of a social network comprising a plurality of household groups, wherein each household group comprises one or more members, the system comprising:

a database layer and an application layer; the application layer assigning to each household group a unique identity, and to each o member of a household group a respective identity; and designating at least one member of the group as a household group administrator; the database layer storing information for each household group information comprising at least said identities, communication preferences and calendar information, information for each member of a household group being linked to the respective unique household5 group identity; and the application layer controlling access to the database layer for managing said information on a per household group basis and in accordance with permissions set for individual members of the household group by the respective household group administrator. 0 15. A system according to claim 14 wherein the application layer provides for creating, managing and displaying calendar information comprising activities in a household group calendar based on permissions established between members of the household group.

16. A system according to claim 15 wherein the application layer provides for linking of 5 calendar information of each member of a household group and generating a graphical user interface for displaying a calendar view comprising:

a) a unified view of calendar information comprising all group activities and all activities involving one or more individual members; or b) a filtered view of calendar information comprising activities for a selected member or members of a household group.

17. A system according to claim 16 wherein access to calendar information for a household group is restricted to members of the household group only.

18. A system according to claim 15 wherein the application layer is further configured for generating activity requests: wherein each activity request for a proposed activity comprises a plurality of availability instances, an activity duration, and associated information about the activity and participants; and wherein the plurality of availability instances comprise a plurality of time slots of the proposed activity duration, within one or more available time windows, on one or more dates.

19. A system according to 18 further comprising connections between users enabling members of a household to have contacts in other household groups, and wherein said connections provide for sharing activity requests with participants who are contacts in other household groups.

20. A system according to claim 18 or claim 19 wherein on acceptance of an activity request by a participant, the activity is confirmed for a selected time slot of the duration of the activity, and the confirmed activity is displayed in the household group calendar of each participant, and other alternative available timeslots are released.

21. A system according to claim 18 wherein creating, managing and displaying calendar information comprising a confirmed activity or an activity request involving one or more individual members or the household group is based on access permissions set by household group administrator and/or a creator of the activity.

22. A system according to claim 18, wherein creating, managing and/or displaying an activity request comprises making said activity request accessible to others on an activity and contact specific basis set by the individual member.

5 23. A software product comprising a computer readable medium storing instructions for execution in a processor of a server system, for implementing the method steps of any one of the preceding method claims 1 to 12.

24. An electronic calendar system for implementing the method steps of any one of the i o preceding method claims 1 to 12.

25. An electronic calendar system according to claim 24 comprising a graphical user interface for presenting a calendar view comprising:

a) a unified view of calendar information comprising all group activities and all 15 activities involving one or more individual members,

or

b) a filtered view of calendar information comprising activities for a selected member or members of a household/group.

20 26. A social network structure for managing household group activities and calendars, comprising:

a computer readable medium storing instructions defining a household group centric membership structure comprising a plurality of household groups, wherein each household group comprises one or more members of the household group, and

25 wherein each household group is assigned a unique household group identity; each

member of the household group has a respective identity which is associated with their respective household group identity; and at least one member of the household group is designated as a household group administrator; database means for storing and managing information for each household group

30 comprising at least identities, communication preferences, permissions and calendar information for the household group and for each member of the household group; and the computer readable medium further storing instructions for access controls for managing said information on a household group basis and in accordance with permissions set for each individual member of the household by the respective household group administrator.

27. A network structure according to claim 26 wherein calendar information for all members of a household group is linked, and wherein access controls for managing said information comprise access controls for presenting, via a graphical user interface: a unified view of calendar information comprising group activities and activities involving one or more members of the household group; or a filtered view of calendar information comprising activities involving a selected member or members.

28. A network structure according to claim 26 or claim 27 wherein calendar information further comprises activity requests, and wherein an activity request comprises a plurality of availability instances, a duration for a proposed activity, and associated information about the activity and participants.

29. A network structure according to claim 28 wherein said access controls enable sharing of activity requests with participants who are contacts in other household groups.

30. A method for managing activity requests in an electronic calendar system wherein each user has a user calendar, the method comprising:

receiving from a user a request to create an activity request;

prompting the user for inputs for the activity request comprising at least one user contact (invitee), an activity name, an activity duration and a plurality of availability instances; sending the activity request to each invitee;

prompting each invitee for a response;

on receiving a response from an invitee comprising input to accept the activity request, prompting the user to select an availability instance from the plurality of availability instances offered in the activity request and to select a time slot of the activity duration within the selected availability instance; and on receiving a selection of a time slot of the activity duration, confirming the activity in the respective time slot of the calendars of the user and of the said invitee.

31. A method according to claim 30 further comprising, after receiving input from an 5 invitee selecting an availability instance, displaying to the invitee a calendar view

comprising a corresponding available time window within the calendar view comprising a plurality of time slots of the activity duration, and prompting the invitee to select one of the plurality of time slots. 0 32. A method according to claim 30 further comprising, on receiving a response from each invitee to a pending activity request, or on expiry of a pending activity request, deleting the activity request.

33. A method according to claim 30, further comprising: on receiving from an invitee a 5 response to ignore, otherwise refuse or delete the activity request, deleting the activity request if the invitee is the only invitee; and otherwise, removing the invitee from the activity request and awaiting a response from any other invitee or invitees.

34. A method according to claim 30 wherein the step of prompting each invitee for a o response comprises presenting the activity request to the user in a listing associated with the calendar of the invitee.

35. A method according to claim 30 wherein the step of prompting each invitee for a response comprises presenting the activity request to the invitee in a calendar view.5

36. A method according to claim 30 wherein the step of prompting each invitee for a response comprises presenting the activity request to the user in a listing associated with the calendar of the invitee, wherein the listing provides an indication of whether or not each availability instance is free or busy in the invitees calendar.

0

37. A method according to claim 36, wherein the electronic calendar system comprises a household group calendar system, and wherein presenting the activity request to the invitee in a calendar view comprises presenting the activity request in a household group calendar view.