System and computer method for tracking online actions

Abstract

System and computer-implemented method of dynamically modifying a user interface and displaying a circular meter with a selectable slider. The identity of the UI is extracted from the UI and looked up in a table to determine two scores associated with the UI. A UI-specific score indicates how many actions a user has taken with the UI, and a total score indicates how many actions a user has taken with all UIs that the user has permitted to track. A graphic having two concentric circular meters is combined with the UI to produce a composite UI that is displayed to the user as the user is interacting with the UI. The meters fill up in opposite directions, and a slider on one of the meters can be slid clockwise or anti-clockwise to permit the user to make a selection based on the two scores.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A computer-implemented method of dynamically modifying an electronic user interface downloaded for display on an electronic video display, comprising:
 causing to be displayed on an electronic video display an electronic user interface including a first graphical element and a second graphical element,   the first graphical element having a first elongated curved shape following a first generally curved path and being at least partially filled with a first visually distinguishable indicia in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction along the first generally curved path, wherein an extent of the first visually distinguishable indicia is commensurate with a first score;   the second graphical element having a second elongated curved shape following a second generally curved path concentric with the first generally curved path and being at least partially filled with a second visually distinguishable indicia in the other of the clockwise or anti-clockwise direction along the second generally curved path, wherein the first visually distinguishable indicia is visually distinguishable from the second visually distinguishable indicia, and wherein an extent of the second visually distinguishable indicia is commensurate with a second score, the first score being a subset of the second score;   causing to be displayed on the electronic user interface a selectable graphical element on the second graphical element, wherein the selectable graphical element is made to appear on the electronic user interface to slide along the first elongated curved shape or the second elongated curved shape as the selectable graphical element is being continuously selected, and, as the selectable graphical element is slid along the first or second elongated curved shape, the first or second visually distinguishable indicia that fills the first or second elongated curved shape to one side of the selectable graphical element changes to a third visually distinguishable indicia that is distinct from the first or second visually distinguishable indicia; and   receiving, via a human-machine interface device, a selection using the selectable graphical element corresponding to a release of the selectable graphical element detected by the human-machine interface device.   
     
     
         22 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the first score corresponds to a maximum reduction of a number that is portrayed on the electronic user interface. 
     
     
         23 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 in response to the selectable graphical element being slid beyond a first section of the second graphical element, changing at last part of the first visually distinguishable indicia to a fourth visually distinguishable indicia distinct from the first visually distinguishable indicia in a second section of the first graphical element, the second section appearing to enlarge as the selectable graphical element is slid further away from the first section, wherein the first section corresponds to the at least partially filled portion of the second graphical element.   
     
     
         24 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 23 , wherein a third section of the second graphical element is adjacent to the first section of the second graphical element filled with the second visually distinguishable indicia, and the third section is filled with a fifth visually distinguishable indicia distinct from the second visually distinguishable indicia. 
     
     
         25 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the first generally curved path and the second generally curved path share the same loci. 
     
     
         26 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 changing the second visually distinguishable indicia to another visually distinguishable indicia in response to the second score exceeding a first threshold level.   
     
     
         27 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 26 , further comprising changing the another visually distinguishable indicia to a further visually distinguishable indicia in response to the second score exceeding a second threshold level that is higher than the first threshold level. 
     
     
         28 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising changing the first visually distinguishable indicia to another visually distinguishable indicia in response to the second score exceeding a first threshold level. 
     
     
         29 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising increasing the extent of the first visually distinguishable indicia that at least partially fills the first graphical element as the first score increases. 
     
     
         30 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising increasing the extent of the second visually distinguishable indicia that at least partially fills the second graphical element as the first score increases. 
     
     
         31 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising increasing the extent of the second visually distinguishable indicia that at least partially fills the second graphical element as the second score increases. 
     
     
         32 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 causing to be displayed on the electronic user interface a second selectable graphical element on the first graphical element, wherein the second selectable graphical element is made to appear on the electronic user interface to slide along the first elongated curved shape as the second selectable graphical element is being continuously selected, and, as the second selectable graphical element is slid along the first elongated curved shape, the first visually distinguishable indicia that fills the first elongated curved shape to one side of the second selectable graphical element changes to a fourth visually distinguishable indicia that is distinct from the first visually distinguishable indicia.   
     
     
         33 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the first visually distinguishable indicia or the second visually distinguishable indicia includes any one or more of a solid color, a color pattern, an animation, a graphic, or text. 
     
     
         34 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the first generally curved path follows a circle, and the second generally curved path follows another circle. 
     
     
         35 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the human-machine interface device includes a touchscreen, a stylus, a computer mouse, or a gesture sensing device configured to sense a human-made gesture, and wherein the electronic video display is incorporated into a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a personal computer, a smartphone device, or a wearable electronic device. 
     
     
         36 . One or more computer-readable, non-transitory, storage media encoding machine-readable instructions that when executed by one or more electronic computers cause operations to be carried out, the operations comprising:
 determining a point value for each of a plurality of online actions made by a user associated with an electronic user account;   storing a plurality of merchant-specific scores, each being indicative of the extent of point values accumulated for corresponding ones of the plurality of online actions that are taken with a respective one of a plurality of online merchants and associated with the electronic user account;   storing a total score indicative of all point values accumulated for all of the plurality of online actions associated with the electronic user account;   providing an electronic user interface that facilitates a negotiation between the user and a selected one of the plurality of online merchants (selected merchant) in which the user requests a discount off an item or service available for online purchase by the selected merchant, where an extent of the discount that the user can request is a function of the merchant-specific score for the selected merchant and the total score, such that the user can request a greater discount the higher the merchant-specific score for the selected merchant or the higher the total score, wherein the negotiation if successful produces a negotiated value; and   completing an electronic transaction in which the item or service is purchased by the user at the negotiated value.   
     
     
         37 . The one or more storage media, wherein each of the online actions includes (1) making an online purchase from an online merchant, or (2) submitting an online review about a product or service available over the Internet from an online merchant, or (3) sharing, via online social media, information about a product or service available over the Internet, or (4) saving a product or service online for later purchase.