System And Method For Algorithmic Selection Of A Consensus From A Plurality Of Ideas

Abstract

A system and method for algorithmic selection of a consensus from a collection of ideas is disclosed. A group of ideas is provided to a group of participants for voting. Voting may occur in a single round or in several successive rounds, optionally until a consensus idea is chosen. Typically, the votes that are cast use discrete levels, such as “approve”, “disapprove”, “positive”, “neutral” or “negative”. For ideas that receive the same votes, a differentiator may be the time spent casting the vote. A relatively long evaluation time may signal some internal conflict in the mind of the participant, when compared with a relatively short evaluation time, which may signal no such conflict. The evaluation time may be combined with the rating of the participant to form a weighted rating. Consequently, a short evaluation time of a positive rating may yield a more positive weighted rating, while a short evaluation time of a negative rating may yield a more negative weighted rating.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for rating a plurality of ideas, said method comprising:
 distributing the plurality of ideas to a group of participants;   collecting from each participant a rating for each idea;   recording an evaluation time for each participant and each idea; and   forming a weighted rating from each rating and each corresponding evaluation time.   
     
     
         2 . The product of  claim 1 ,
 wherein each rating comprises an approval level ranging from positive to negative; and   wherein each evaluation time comprises a length ranging from short to long; and   wherein each weighted rating comprises an approval level ranging from positive to negative.   
     
     
         3 . The product of  claim 2 , wherein a weighted rating corresponding to a positive rating and a short evaluation time is more positive than a weighted rating corresponding to a positive rating and a long evaluation time. 
     
     
         4 . The product of  claim 2 , wherein a weighted rating corresponding to a positive rating and a long evaluation time is more positive than a weighted rating corresponding to a neutral rating and a short evaluation time. 
     
     
         5 . The product of  claim 2 , wherein a weighted rating corresponding to a neutral rating and a short evaluation time is more positive than a weighted rating corresponding to a neutral rating and a long evaluation time. 
     
     
         6 . The product of  claim 2 , wherein a weighted rating corresponding to a neutral rating and a long evaluation time is more positive than a weighted rating corresponding to a negative rating and a long evaluation time. 
     
     
         7 . The product of  claim 2 , wherein a weighted rating corresponding to a negative rating and a long evaluation time is more positive than a weighted rating corresponding to a negative rating and a short evaluation time. 
     
     
         8 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the evaluation time corresponds to an amount of time spent by the particular participant rating the particular idea. 
     
     
         9 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the evaluation time corresponds to an amount of time spent by the particular participant rating the particular idea, normalized by a length of the particular idea. 
     
     
         10 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the evaluation time corresponds to an amount of time spent by the particular participant rating the particular idea, normalized by a number of words and a complexity of words of the particular idea. 
     
     
         11 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the evaluation time corresponds to an amount of time spent by the particular participant rating the particular idea, normalized by a reading rate of the particular participant. 
     
     
         12 . The product of  claim 11 , wherein the reading rate of the particular participant is determined from an amount of time spent by the particular participant reading a set of instructions. 
     
     
         13 . The product of  claim 11 , wherein the reading rate of the particular participant is determined from amounts of time spent by the particular participant rating other ideas in the plurality. 
     
     
         14 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein said method further comprises:
 tallying the weighted ratings for all the participants and all the ideas;   forming an idea rating for each idea, each idea rating being formed from the weighted ratings for all the participants for the corresponding idea;   sorting the ideas by their corresponding idea ratings; and   selecting a subset of the ideas having the highest corresponding idea ratings.   
     
     
         15 . The product of  claim 14 , wherein the selected subset comprises the idea having the highest corresponding idea rating. 
     
     
         16 . The product of  claim 14 , wherein the selected subset includes at least two ideas. 
     
     
         17 . The product of  claim 16 , wherein the selected subset is presented to the group of participants for additional rating. 
     
     
         18 . A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for rating a plurality of ideas, said method comprising:
 distributing a first plurality of ideas to a group of participants;   collecting from each participant a first rating for each idea in the first plurality;   selecting a first winning idea from the first plurality in response to the first ratings;   collecting a first approval rating from each participant in response to the first winning idea;   distributing a second plurality of ideas to the group of participants;   collecting from each participant a second rating for each idea in the second plurality;   selecting a second winning idea from the second plurality in response to the second ratings;   collecting a second approval rating from each participant in response to the second winning idea;   determining a third plurality of ideas in response to the first and second approval ratings;   distributing a third plurality of ideas to the group of participants;   collecting from each participant a third rating for each idea in the third plurality; and   selecting a third winning idea from the third plurality in response to the third ratings.   
     
     
         19 . The product of  claim 18 , wherein the third plurality of ideas has a subject matter determined by the first and second approval ratings. 
     
     
         20 . The product of  claim 19 , wherein the subject matter of the third plurality of ideas is changed from a predetermined subject matter, in response to a low second approval rating.