JP2024051415A - Q&A System - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a Q&A system for revitalizing a knowledge community. [Solution] The Q&A system according to the present invention comprises a questioner terminal operated by a questioner, an answerer terminal operated by an answerer who answers a question from the questioner, a viewer terminal operated by a viewer who views the answerer's answer to the question from the questioner, and a management server managed by an operator of a Q&A site, all connected via a network. The management server comprises a receiving means for receiving a question from the questioner terminal and an answer to the question from the answerer terminal, a question and answer storage means for storing the question and the answer in association with each other, a transmitting means for transmitting the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal based on a viewing request from the viewer terminal, a viewing fee collection processing means for collecting a viewing fee from the viewer, and a viewing fee settlement processing means for paying the viewing fee collected from the viewer to the questioner and the answerer as a reward. [Selected Figure] Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to knowledge community technology such as community-type Q&A sites on the Internet, and more specifically to Q&A system technology that enhances the activation of knowledge communities.

As the Internet has rapidly expanded, so too has knowledge communities over the Internet. Q&A sites are one form of such knowledge communities, and they have not only been used to respond to external customers and for internal knowledge management, but also as knowledge markets that trade "knowledge" in the form of questions and answers by matching questions from questioners with answers from those who answer those questions.

Against this backdrop, Q&A systems have been invented that allow general users to exchange useful and appropriate answers to questions and reduce the support work required by companies (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

The Q&A system disclosed in Patent Document 1 manages evaluation information given to answerers, and judges the suitability of answerers according to the evaluation information, allowing answerers who are judged to be suitable to answer questions to provide answers, thereby preventing incorrect or inappropriate information from being given as answers and improving the reliability of answers. Specifically, evaluation points are given by the questioner or the like to excellent answers given to questions on the Q&A site, and answering authority is given according to the evaluation points that users have earned, and the system is configured so that only users who have earned a certain number of evaluation points can provide answers, thereby improving the reliability of answers.

Patent No. 4961537

The invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 can increase the reliability of answers to questions, which allows general users to obtain useful and appropriate answers to their questions. However, from the perspective of revitalizing a knowledge community using a Q&A system, simply increasing the reliability of answers is not sufficient.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these problems, and aims to provide a Q&A system that improves the quality of questions and answers by eliciting questions from users who ask questions that are more interesting and make other users want to share the information, and by providing incentives for users who answer questions to provide answers that are more useful and make other users want to share the information, thereby revitalizing the knowledge community.

The Q&A system according to the present invention is a Q&A system in which a questioner terminal operated by a questioner, an answerer terminal operated by an answerer who answers a question from the questioner, a viewer terminal operated by a viewer who views the answerer's answer to the question from the questioner, and a management server managed by an operator of a Q&A site are connected via a network, and the management server includes a receiving means for receiving a question from the questioner terminal and an answer to the question from the answerer terminal, a question and answer storage means for storing the question and the answer in association with each other, a transmitting means for transmitting the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal based on a viewing request from the viewer terminal, a viewing fee collection processing means for collecting a viewing fee from the viewer, and a viewing fee settlement processing means for paying the viewing fee collected from the viewer to the questioner and the answerer as a reward.

The viewing fee collection processing means may be configured to, upon receiving a viewing request from the viewer terminal, present the viewing fee for providing the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal, and, after the viewer confirms that the viewing fee has been accepted, transmit the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal.

In one embodiment, the viewing fee settlement processing means pays the viewing fee collected from the viewer to the questioner and the answerer as a reward at a distribution rate preset by the operator of the Q&A site.

In another embodiment, the viewing fee settlement processing means pays the viewing fee collected from the viewer to the questioner and the answerer as a reward at a distribution rate preset by the questioner and the answerer.

The viewing fee collected by the viewing fee collection processing means may be a viewing fee preset by the operator of the Q&A site for each associated question and answer.

The viewing fee collected by the viewing fee collection processing means may be a viewing fee preset by at least one of the questioner and the answerer for each associated question and answer.

According to the present invention, the viewing fee collected from viewers is paid as a reward to the questioner and the answerer, so that users who ask questions are given an incentive to ask questions that will make other users want to share the information as more interesting questions, and users who answer questions are given an incentive to provide answers that will make other users want to share the information as more useful answers, thereby improving the quality of questions and answers and providing a Q&A system that revitalizes the knowledge community.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a Q&A system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of a management server provided in a Q&A system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of the Q&A system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The Q&A system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a Q&A system according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram outlining an administration server provided in a Q&A system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of a Q&A system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the Q&A system 100 of the present invention comprises a questioner terminal 10 operated by the questioner, a respondent terminal 20 operated by an respondent who answers the question from the questioner, a viewer terminal 30 operated by a viewer who views the answerer's answer to the question from the questioner, and a management server 40 managed by the operator of the Q&A site, all connected via a network. Note that FIG. 1 shows only one each of the questioner terminal 10, respondent terminal 20, and viewer terminal 30, but it goes without saying that multiple terminals of each of these are connected via a network to form a system that functions as a knowledge community.

The questioner terminal 10 is, for example, a mobile terminal or a personal computer, and executes a questioner application configured for the Q&A system 100.

Like the questioner terminal 10, the respondent terminal 20 is, for example, a mobile terminal or a personal computer, and runs a respondent application configured for the Q&A system 100.

Like the questioner terminal 10 and the respondent terminal 20, the viewer terminal 30 is, for example, a mobile terminal or a personal computer, and executes a viewer application configured for the Q&A system 100, enabling the viewer to obtain information on questions and answers that are of interest to the viewer from the management server 40 and view it.

As shown in FIG. 2, the management server 40 includes a receiving means 41 for receiving questions from the questioner terminal 10 and receiving answers to the questions from the answerer terminal 20, a question and answer storage means 42 for storing questions and answers in association with each other, a transmitting means 43 for transmitting the associated questions and answers to the viewer terminal 30 based on a viewing request from the viewer terminal 30, a viewing fee collection processing means 44 for collecting viewing fees from viewers, and a viewing fee settlement processing means 45 for paying the viewing fees collected from viewers to the questioner and answerer as remuneration.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, a question fee collection processing means 46 is provided to collect a question fee from the questioner as a system usage fee. The collection of such a question fee is intended to cover system operation costs, but the question fee collection processing means 46 is not necessarily required for the Q&A system 100 of the present invention. As will be described in detail later, if the system administrator (the operator of the Q&A site) collects a portion of the viewing fee collected from the viewer as a fee, the fee can be used to cover system operation costs, etc.

In addition, for the purpose of preventing fraudulent or inappropriate use of the Q&A system 100, the management server 40 may be provided with a user information management means (not shown). Such user information management means stores pre-registered user information (e.g., email addresses and passwords), and allows only users who have been approved in advance by the system administrator to use the system.

In this way, the Q&A system of the present invention is a Q&A system in which a questioner terminal operated by the questioner, an answerer terminal operated by an answerer who answers the question from the questioner, a viewer terminal operated by a viewer who views the answerer's answer to the question from the questioner, and a management server managed by the operator of the Q&A site are connected via a network.

The management server includes a receiving means for receiving questions from the questioner terminal and receiving answers to the questions from the answerer terminal, a question and answer storage means for storing questions and answers in association with each other, a transmitting means for transmitting the associated questions and answers to the viewer terminal based on a viewing request from the viewer terminal, a viewing fee collection processing means for collecting viewing fees from the viewer, and a viewing fee settlement processing means for paying the viewing fees collected from the viewer to the questioner and the answerer as a reward.

Next, the operation of the Q&A system 100 in this embodiment will be described.

Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of a Q&A system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S101, the management server 40 determines whether or not a question has been asked from the questioner terminal 10. If it is determined that a question has been asked (Yes), the process proceeds to step S102, and if it is determined that no question has been asked (No), the process of step S101 is repeated.

As described above, if the system is equipped with a question fee collection processing means 46 for collecting a question fee from the questioner, the question fee collection process is performed before proceeding to step S102. Such a question fee may be determined by the system administrator as a fixed amount per question, or may be an amount determined in advance for each question.

In addition, if a user information management means is provided in the management server 40 for the purpose of preventing fraudulent or inappropriate use of the Q&A system 100, the user information is authenticated prior to the processing of step S101, and if it is determined that the user is not one who has been approved for use in advance by the system administrator, the subsequent processing is not performed.

When the process proceeds to step S102, the management server 40 accepts the question from the questioner terminal 10 and stores it as information. The question information may include answerer information about the person (designated answerer) from whom the questioner wishes to receive an answer.

If the question information includes information about the designated respondent, in step S103, the management server 40 transmits the received question information to the terminal 20 of the designated respondent based on the respondent information, and makes a response request to encourage the respondent to respond to the question.

In step S104, the management server 40 determines whether or not a response has been received from the respondent, and if it is determined that a response has been received (Yes), the management server 40 proceeds to step S105, and if it is determined that a response has not been received (No), the management server 40 repeats the processing of step S104.

When the process proceeds to step S105, the management server 40 stores the answer information in association with the question information.

Next, in step S106, the management server 40 determines whether or not there has been a request from the viewer to view the associated question and answer, and if it is determined that there has been a request to view (Yes), it proceeds to step S107, and if it is determined that there has not been a request to view (No), it repeats the processing of step S106.

In step S107, the management server 40 performs a process to collect a viewing fee from the viewer who made the viewing request.

The viewing fee collected by this viewing fee collection process may be a viewing fee preset by the system administrator for each of the above-mentioned associated questions and answers, but is not limited to such a form.

For example, the viewing fee may be preset by at least one of the questioner and the answerer for each associated question and answer. In such a case, if a question is asked that is likely to interest as many viewers as possible, the number of viewers is expected to be large even if the viewing fee is set relatively high, and as a result, the reward obtained will be high, which increases the motivation to improve the quality of the question. The same is true for the answerer; if a question is asked that is likely to interest as many viewers as possible, the number of viewers is expected to be large even if the viewing fee is set relatively high, and as a result, the reward obtained will be high, which increases the motivation to improve the quality of the answer.

In addition, this viewing fee collection process may involve presenting the viewing fee for the provision of the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal when a viewing request is received from the viewer terminal, and after the viewer confirms that the viewing fee has been accepted, proceeding to step S108 and transmitting the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal.

In step S109, the management server 40 performs a process (viewing fee settlement process) of paying rewards to the questioner and the answerer. This viewing fee settlement process may be performed by paying the viewing fee collected from the viewer as reward to the questioner and the answerer at a distribution rate preset by the system administrator (for example, the system administrator collects 30% of the viewing fee as a commission and distributes the remaining 70% at a 1:1 ratio), but is not limited to such an embodiment.

For example, the questioner and answerer may set a distribution rate in advance, and the viewing fee collected from the viewer may be paid as a reward according to that distribution rate. In such an embodiment, for example, the system administrator may collect 30% of the viewing fee as a commission, and the remaining 70% may be distributed between questioner 2 and answerer 1, or between questioner 1 and answerer 2. The former distribution embodiment increases motivation to improve the quality of questions. The latter distribution embodiment increases motivation to improve the quality of answers.

So far, the above-mentioned aspects of the Q&A system according to the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be embodied in various aspects. For example, the questioner may give a "tip" to the answerer as a fee for asking a question, and the operator of the Q&A site may collect a portion of the "tip" (e.g., 30%) as a commission fee, and pay the remaining 70% to the answerer.

In addition, if either the questioner or the answerer waives their right to receive the reward, or loses eligibility to use the system due to withdrawal or other reasons, the operator of the Q&A site may collect the amount equivalent to the reward that is no longer required as a fee, or may add it to the reward of the other party (the questioner or answerer), or may redistribute it between the operator of the Q&A site and the other party.

In addition, for things like "public questions" that are set up in advance by the operator of the Q&A site, there may be no question fee like the "tipping" mentioned above, and people may be able to ask questions free of charge.

In such cases, since there is no need to pay a reward to the original asker of the question, the reward amount may be set at zero, and the operator of the Q&A site may collect the viewing fee as a commission, or may add it to the reward for the answerer, or may redistribute it between the operator of the Q&A site and the other party.

As described above, the Q&A system of the present invention includes a questioner terminal operated by a questioner, an answerer terminal operated by an answerer who answers a question from the questioner, a viewer terminal operated by a viewer who views the answerer's answer to the question from the questioner, and a management server managed by the operator of the Q&A site, all connected via a network. The management server includes a receiving means for receiving a question from the questioner terminal and an answer to the question from the answerer terminal, a question and answer storage means for storing the question and the answer in association with each other, a transmitting means for transmitting the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal based on a viewing request from the viewer terminal, a viewing fee collection processing means for collecting a viewing fee from the viewer, and a viewing fee settlement processing means for paying the viewing fee collected from the viewer to the questioner and the answerer as a reward.

In a Q&A system configured in this way, the viewing fee collected from viewers is paid as compensation to the questioner and the answerer, which gives users who ask questions an incentive to ask questions that are more interesting and make other users want to share the information, and gives users who answer questions an incentive to provide answers that are more useful and make other users want to share the information, thereby improving the quality of questions and answers and ultimately revitalizing the knowledge community.

The present invention provides a Q&A system that aims to revitalize the knowledge community.

100 Q&A system 10 Questioner terminal 20 Answerer terminal 30 Viewer terminal 40 Management server 41 Receiving means 42 Question and answer storage means 43 Transmitting means 44 Viewing fee collection processing means 45 Viewing fee settlement processing means 46 Question fee collection processing means

Claims (6)

A Q&A system in which a questioner terminal operated by a questioner, a respondent terminal operated by an answerer who answers a question from the questioner, a viewer terminal operated by a viewer who views the answer from the answerer to the question from the questioner, and a management server managed by an operator of a Q&A site are connected via a network,
The management server includes:
a receiving means for receiving a question from the questioner terminal and receiving an answer to the question from the answerer terminal;
a question and answer storage means for storing the question and the answer in association with each other;
a transmission means for transmitting the associated questions and answers to the viewer terminal based on a viewing request from the viewer terminal;
a browsing fee collection processing means for collecting a browsing fee from the user;
The Q&A system includes a viewing fee settlement processing means for paying the viewing fee collected from the viewer to the questioner and the answerer as a reward. The Q&A system according to claim 1, wherein the viewing fee collection processing means, upon receiving a viewing request from the viewer terminal, presents the viewing fee for providing the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal, and after the viewer confirms that the viewing fee has been accepted, transmits the associated question and answer to the viewer terminal. The Q&A system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the viewing fee settlement processing means pays the viewing fee collected from the viewers to the questioner and the answerer as a reward at a distribution rate preset by the operator of the Q&A site. The Q&A system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the viewing fee settlement processing means pays the viewing fee collected from the viewer as a reward to the questioner and the answerer at a distribution rate preset by the questioner and the answerer. The Q&A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the viewing fee collected by the viewing fee collection processing means is a viewing fee preset by the operator of the Q&A site for each of the associated questions and answers. The Q&A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the viewing fee collected by the viewing fee collection processing means is a viewing fee preset by at least one of the questioner and the answerer for each of the associated questions and answers.