USOO8402480B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8402,480 B2 ROh Wer (45) Date of Patent: Mar. 19, 2013 (54) SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR 2003/0233631 A1* 12/2003 Curry et al. ................... 717/1OO GENERATING ASWMILANE TIMELINE FOR 2005/0203718 A1* 9, 2005 Carek et al. ....................... TO3/1 2007/0288283 A1 12/2007 Fitzpatrick TASK DATA VISUALIZATION 2008, 0221946 A1* 9, 2008 Balon ............................... 705/7 2012, 00794.08 A1 3/2012 Rohwer (75) Inventor: Daniel Rohwer, Northfield, MN (US) OTHER PUBLICATIONS (73) Assignee: Visibility. Biz Inc., Eagan, MN (US) Walker et al., Microsoft(R) Office Visio(R) 2003 Inside Out, Nov. 19, (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 2003, Microsoft Press, pp. 1-54.* patent is extended or adjusted under 35 “U.S. Appl. No. 12/890,521. Non Final Office Action mailed Jun. 8, U.S.C. 154(b) by 1009 days. 2010, 29 pgs. “Gantt chart software', MatchWare MindView 3 Business, (Jan. 3. (21) Appl. No.: 12/316,084 2010). "Seavus Project Viewer 4.1 User Manual”. Seavus Group, (Jan. 2, (22) Filed: Dec. 9, 2008 2010), 121 pgs. (65) Prior Publication Data * cited by examiner US 2009/O293O74 A1 Nov. 26, 2009 Primary Examiner — Andy Ho Related U.S. Application Data Assistant Examiner — Timothy A Mudrick (60) Provisional application No. 61/024,973, filed on Jan. 31, 2008. (57) ABSTRACT The Swimlane Timeline application for task data visualiza (51) Int. Cl. tion utilizes the Microsoft Visio Application Programming G06F 3/00 (2006.01) Interface (API) to visualize user specified task data. The task G06F 9/44 (2006.01) data includes one or more of task name, task outline number, G06F 9/46 (2006.01) task start date, and/or task finish date. The application Solicits, G6F I3/0 (2006.01) interprets, and visualizes the data by mapping the user (52) U.S. Cl. ....................................................... 719/328 selected top-level outline number “n” as the parent task that (58) Field of Classification Search ................... 71.9/328 defines the timeline and title, the “n.n' child tasks to swim See application file for complete search history. lane rows, and the “n.nn ... lower level tasks to intervals and milestones within the Swim lanes. Task analysis and (56) References Cited reporting are enhanced with features including task drill-in, U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS task filtering, and other user visualization preferences. 2002/0046394 A1* 4/2002 Do et al. ....................... 717/108 2003/00 1874.6 A1 1/2003 Boesch ......................... TO9.218 18 Claims, 17 Drawing Sheets N RECEIVETASKDATAGENERATED BYAFIRST APPLICATION PROCESSTASKDATA GENERATESWIMLANETIMELINE DLAGRAMINACCORDANCE WITHA DLAGRAMMINGSOFTWAREFORMAT U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 1 of 17 US 8402,480 B2 L], (YEV HOMOS U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 2 of 17 US 8402,480 B2 W VISIBILITY WIDGET DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 2007 2008 QUARTER MONTH NOW DEC AN | FEB | MAR APR MAY | UN JUL i Widget To ements Complete HIGHLEVEL Pha MILESTONES Web Proje Phase Development PHASE - DEVELOPMENT WIDGET TOOL DocumentationCreate B. CORE Deliver Phase Phase Project Administration PHASE2. WDGET TOOL ENHANCEMENT Phase3Design Considerations PHASE3 PORT WIDGET TOOL FORWEB SERVICES U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 3 of 17 US 8402,480 B2 3) VISIBILITYBIZSWIMLANETIMELINE DataSources Example Project Files\Project 2003\2003 High Altitude Tent.mmp Add Files Example Project Files\Project 2003\2003 Camp Stove.mmp Example Project Files\Project 2003\2003 Bushranger +6 weeks.mmp Starting Outline Number (i.e. 1.32):0 Single Page Outline Level Depth: 3 Multiple Page Outline Level Depth: 0 Swimlanes to include Time to ShOW O All Timeline Interval: Auto v. OSwimlanes: Timeline Start Date: 12/28/2007 v Timeline End Date: 12/28/2007 v O Apply custom fields for task visibility, short name, Color, and type Show only tasks with the calculated task field"Critical" set to "Yes" Show task dependencies if they are defined in the source file(s) FIG 3 U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 4 of 17 US 8402,480 B2 AW Interval Milestone Highlight Color 6pt a RGB(204, 222, 255) Secondary Milestone Line Color RGB(162,0, 20) v. FIG, 4 U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 5 Of 17 US 8402,480 B2 5) PORTFOLIO OVERVIEW YEAR 2000 200 2002 2003 PRODUCTSCREENING PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION Development COMMERCIALIZATION POSTCOMMERCIALIZATIONREVIEW PRELIMINARY COMMERCIALIZATION POSTCOMMERCIALIZATIONREVIEW scies PRELIMINARYINVESTIGATION ent COMMERCIALIZATION POST COMMERCIALIZATIONREVIEW U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 6 of 17 US 8402,480 B2 6 VISIBILITY WIDGET DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 2007 2008 QUARTER 4 8 4 MONIH NOW DEC AN FEB MAR APR MAY UN AUG SEP OCT Phase 1.Development Widget HIGHLEVEL Tool Core Complete MILESTONES Phase Design T. Considerations {X hase 1 Design Considerations Complete Phase Development Modify User Interace Shape Data-Interval,82 X SEShape Data ackground,N. etc.) P. NameShort Name Develop PIN Generation Develope PIN Generation from Start Date 1218/2007 s St End Date 01/08/2008 Develop PINXLS % Complete sDevelop PIN Generation Critical Task $0.00TRUE EMSXSOra ProjectIdentity Visibility Timeline Example DEVELOPMENTPHASE. AlgorithmE. PIN Colorization SubprojectSubDroiect File WDGET TOOL g CORE Test Phase 1 Unique ID Predecessors 113 DOCUmentationelease uniqueUnique ID 178 reate PINUser Documentation (ALpha, Beta, Release) Create PIN Developer Documentation Deliver Phase Training On-site PN UserTraining Pin DeveloperTraining On-site Visio best Practice Training Phase 1. On-site Training Comp PHASE2. WDGET TOOL ENHANCEMENT PHASE3-PORT WDGET TOOL FORWEB SERVICES U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 7 Of 17 US 8402,480 B2 W VISIBILITY WIDGET DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 2007 2008 UARTER 4 2 4 MONTH NOW DEC AN FEB I AR APR MAY UN UL AUG SEP OCT Phase 1-Development Wic HIGHLEVEL Tool Core Complete MILESTONES Phase Design is KX Considerationshase Design Complete Phase Development Modify User interace Drawing Explorer X Modify PIN Shape Data Drawing 1 etup PINDefaults (Page G-Foreground Pages R etc.) E(0) Visibility Widget Development Schedule since from E. (1) Phase 1-Develop Widget Tool Core Develop Lag&SubStep (3) Phase 2-Widget Tool Enhancement Label Sync E. E-(5) Phase 3-Port Widget Tool for Web Services Develop PINXLS El-Background Pages Reports EE--Styles Develop PIN Generation - Masters from IMSXSCOntact |Pat ModifyPN Colorization atters DESEr E. ine Patterns WIDGET TOOL p ine Ends CORE Test Plan Create Phase Documentation reate PNUser Documentation (ALpha, Beta, Release) Create PIN Developer DOCUMentation Deliver Phase Training On-SitePIN UserTraining On-site Pin DeveloperTraining On-site Visio best Practice Training KX TrainingPhase 1-On-site Complete PHASE2. WIDGET TOOL ENHANCEMENT PHASE3-PORT WDGET TOOL SE Bi-weekly Touchpoints & demos EDUE 7 pHASE DEVELOPWDGETOOCORE PHASE WIDGET TOOENHANCEMENTS PHASE3. (2. FIG 7 (2. (2. U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 8 of 17 US 8402,480 B2 W PORTFOLIOOVERVIEW YEAR 20 2002 23 QUARTER O2 8 4 2 8 4 O 8 4 2 Q3 High Atitude Tent 2O3HIGH ALTITUDETENT Shape Data- Interval Outline Number Outline Number BUSHRANGER ::::% Complete CAMPSTOVE Critical Task TRUE Cost 000 ProjectIdentity 2003 High Altitude Tent.mpp Subproject File 769 days FIG. 8 9) PORTFOLIOOVERVIEW YEAR 2000 2002 2003 Hyperlinks 2003 HIGH ALTITUDETENT Sub-address: (1.0)2003 High Altitude Tent s Description: (1.0)2003 High Altitude Tent BUSHRANGER AUse relative path for hyperlink CAMPSTOVE U.S. Patent Mar 19, 2013 Sheet 9 Of 17 US 8 9 402,480 B2 crd s on strt selessesses s is see w Jeuo Ue) U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 10 of 17 US 8402,480 B2 AQ W Visibility Timeline ExampleFile (3 levels).xls Compatibility Mode. Microsoft Excel - DX Insert Page layOut Formulas Data Review View Add-Ins CD - DX B1 v Go fit Outline Number v. A B C D a 1 Name Outline Number Start Date Finish Date 2 Visibility Widget Development Schedule O 11119/07 1011008 3 Phase 1-Develop Widget Tool Core 1 11|1907 34.08 4 Phase 1 Design Considerations 1.1 11|1907 127/08 5 Phase 1-Development 12 11/19/07 1/23/08 6 Create Phase Documentation 1.3 111008 21/08 Deliver Phase 1 Training 14 24.08 21208 8 Phase 1 Project Administration 1.5 11/19/07 34.08 9 Phase 1-Develop Widget Tool Core Complete 2 21208 21208 10 Phase 2-Widget Tool Enhancements 3 21208 7.308 1 Phase 2Design Considerations 3.1 2113/08 215/08 12 Phase 2-Development 3.2 215.08 430.08 Create Phase 2DOCumentation 3.3 428,08 5908 14 Deliver Phase 2 Training 3.4 5908 5/15/08 Phase2Project Administration 3.5 21208 7308 Phase 2-Widget Tool Enhancements Complete 4. 7308 7.308 Phase 3-Port Widget Tool for Web Services 5 7.308 10/10/08 Phase 3Design Considerations 5. 7.3/08 7|1808 Phase 3-Development 52 78/08 84.08 Create Phase 3DOCUrmentation 5.3 7|2508 81708 Deliver Phase 3 Training 5.4 81708 8,708 Phase 3 Project Administration 7308 1010/08 23 Phase 3-Port Widget Tool for Web Services Complete 1010/08 1010/08 24 Project Complete 101008 10/10/08v FIG 11 U.S. Patent Mar. 19, 2013 Sheet 11 of 17 US 8402,480 B2 2 GExample Project Schedule Task List-Windows Internet Explorer -OX GG) v httpsil v File Edit View Favorites Tools Help Links Visibility.biz mCrink mayo.edu Danel Rohwer Intranet V.BExample Task List Visibility.biz Doc Share gExample Project Schedule Task List vvv Page v Tools v Gov Daniel Rohwer Welcome Daniel Rohwer My Site My Links () a EE Daniel Rohwer This List:Example Project Schev O My Home My Profile SiteActions v Daniel Rohwer>Example Project Schedule Task List Example Project Schedule Task List View All Site Content New v Actions v Settings v WieW: All Tasks v ge Title Outline NumbervStart Datev Due Dateva Links Visibility Widget Development O 11119/07 1010/08 Colleagues Schedule I Membership Phase 1.Develop Widget Tool Core | 1 11|1907 34.08 Phase 1 Design Considerations 1.1 11|1907 127/08 Personal Documents Phase 1-Development 12 111907 12308 Shared Documents Create Phase 1 Documentation 13 11008 21/08 ictures Deliver Phase 1 Training 14 24.08 21208 SharedPictures Phase Project Administration 1.5 11|1907 34.08 Sts Phase 1.Develop Widget Tool Core 2 21208 21208 I Example Project Complete Schedule Task List Phase 2.