Triggering completion step suggestion for a task

Abstract

Methods and apparatus related to providing one or more completion step suggestions for a task that is associated with a user. In some implementations, the completion step suggestions may be provided to the user based on the satisfaction of a trigger condition. In some implementations, a trigger condition may be based on a user geographic location. In some implementations, a trigger condition may be based on an action of the user. In some implementations, a trigger condition may be based on a time when the associated task may be completed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 identifying, by one or more processors, a task of a user;   identifying, by one or more of the processors, one or more geographic locations where the task can be completed;   determining, by one or more of the processors, an importance of the task based on one or more properties of the task;   determining, by one or more of the processors, a threshold diversion distance for the task based on the importance of the task;   determining, by one or more of the processors, that a diversion distance from a path of the user to one of the geographic locations satisfies the threshold diversion distance for the task;   in response to determining the diversion distance satisfies the threshold diversion distance for the task:
 providing, by one or more of the processors, a completion step suggestion for the task, the completion step suggestion provided for communication of the completion step suggestion to the user via one or more user interface output devices of a computing device of the user. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the path is generated based on a directional locational query of the user and wherein the completion step suggestion is provided in response to the directional locational query. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the directional locational query is submitted by the user via the computing device of the user and is a request for directions between a first geographic location and a second geographic location, wherein the first geographic location and the second geographic location are in addition to the geographic location where the task can be completed. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the importance of the task is dynamic and wherein the threshold diversion distance is determined for a first time period based on a first value of the importance during the first time period. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 determining, by one or more of the processors, an additional threshold diversion distance for the task for a second time period based on a second value of the importance during the second time period; and   monitoring, by one or more of the processors, for satisfaction of the additional threshold diversion distance during the second time period.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the second time period is before the first time period and wherein the additional threshold diversion distance is less than the threshold diversion distance. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the completion step suggestion for the task is further in response to determining a current time is a time during which the completion step suggestion can be completed. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the importance of the task is based on time sensitivity of the task. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the importance of the task is based on a necessity of the task to be completed. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the user task comprises identifying the user task from one or more emails of the user. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 identifying, by one or more processors, a task of a user;   identifying, by one or more of the processors, one or more geographic locations where the task can be completed;   identifying, by one or more of the processors, a directional locational query submitted by the user via a computing device of the user, wherein the directional locational query is a request for directions between a first geographic location and a second geographic location;   determining, by one or more of the processors, that a geographic location of the geographic locations where the task can be completed is the first geographic location, the second geographic location, or satisfies a diversion distance from a path corresponding to the request for directions between the first geographic location and the second geographic location; and   in response to determining that the geographic location where the task can be completed is the first geographic location, the second geographic location, or satisfies the diversion distance:
 providing, by one or more of the processors, a completion step suggestion that is for the task and that identifies the geographic location where the task can be completed, the completion step suggestion provided for communication of the completion step suggestion to the user via one or more user interface output devices of a computing device of the user. 
   
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the first geographic location and the second geographic location are in addition to the geographic location where the user task can be completed; and wherein determining that the geographic location where the task can be completed is the first geographic location, the second geographic location, or satisfies the diversion distance comprises: determining that the geographic location satisfies the diversion distance. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein providing the completion step suggestion for the task is further in response to determining a current time is a time during which the completion step suggestion can be completed. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein identifying the user task comprises identifying the user task from one or more emails of the user. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 identifying by one or more processors, a task of a user;   identifying, by one or more of the processors, one or more geographic locations where the task can be completed;   determining, by one or more of the processors, a trigger condition for the user task, the trigger condition comprising the user issuing a query related to the user task when a current geographic location of the user is within a threshold distance of the geographic location;   identifying, by one or more of the processors, a satisfaction of the trigger condition based on identifying a user query related to the user task and issued by the user when the current geographic location of the user is within the threshold distance of the geographic location; and   providing, by one or more of the processors, a completion step suggestion for the user task based on the identification of the satisfaction of the trigger condition, the completion step suggestion provided for communication of the completion step suggestion to the user via one or more user interface output devices of a computing device of the user.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 determining the threshold distance based on an importance of the task   
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 16 , wherein the importance of the task is based on time sensitivity of the task. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the user geographic location comprises at least a portion of a path of the user and wherein identifying satisfaction of the trigger condition comprises:
 determining a diversion distance from the portion of the path to the geographic location is within the threshold distance.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 18 , wherein the path is determined in response to a directional locational query submitted by the user via the computing device of the user, wherein the directional locational query is a request for directions between a first geographic location and a second geographic location, and wherein the first geographic location and the second geographic location are in addition to the geographic location where the user task can be completed.