WO2011059840A2

WO2011059840A2 - E-solution to manage life-events

Info

Publication number: WO2011059840A2
Application number: PCT/US2010/054881
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bharath Kumar Yadla; Krishna Panyam; Enaganti Bhaskar Naidu
Original assignee: Glomantra Inc.
Priority date: 2009-10-29
Filing date: 2010-10-29
Publication date: 2011-05-19
Also published as: WO2011059840A3; CA2785118A1

Abstract

A method and system for managing life events of a user is provided. A life event user interface is provided to the user to help the user to provide details related to a life event. Further, an activity selection user interface is provided to the user based on predefined criteria. Furthermore, an activity user interface is provided to the user based on at least one of the activity selected by the user and the details related to the life event provided by the user. The selected activity is performed based on one or more of information collated from web-based information sources, information stored in a user profile of the user, recommendations received from human experts, recommendations generated from at least one of the information stored in the user profile of the user, information collected from social networking websites, and information collated from web-based information sources.

Description

E-SOLUTION TO MANAGE LIFE-EVENTS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in general, to managing life events and, more specifically, to an e-solution for managing life events of a user.

BACKGROUND

People these days have busy schedules and usually find it difficult to allocate time for managing various events of their daily life. The events may include routine events such as paying utility bills, filing tax returns, and checking emails, etc., or special life events such as celebrating a birthday, changing a job, relocating, and buying or selling a car. Managing such events becomes tedious, especially when the person is busy and the event requires a lot of time and energy. For example, to celebrate a family member's birthday, one has to search for caterers, collect feedback about these caterers from friends and family members, obtain quotes from these caterers, and decide on the best-suited caterer. Taking time out to perform these tasks becomes even more difficult when the list of caterers is long and there are other activities to be taken care of. These activities may include selecting a venue for the celebration and sending invitations.

High-profile people usually appoint personal managers to take care of their daily life events. These personal managers gather, collate, and analyze information, and provide relevant suggestions to their employers. This enables high-profile people to easily manage daily life events, but appointing a personal manager is not feasible and affordable for a common man.

Therefore, people have started looking for e-solutions to manage their life events without spending money on a personal manager. A wide range of Internet portals and tools are available to provide point-to-point solutions to answer the specific problems of a user. For example, a user may input a query "Who are the best caterers in San Francisco?" on a local service search system and the system can provide the relevant results. For example, a travel portal provides details related to ticketing, boarding, and lodging, while a catering portal provides details related to various caterers, their quotes, menus, etc.

Typically, when such portals provide results to the user, they do not take into account the amount of excess information that is being provided. For example, the catering portal may provide a list of 50 caterers in San Francisco, but that information may not be of any use to the user. This is because the user would have to search for the details for each of these 50 caterers and collect feedback for each of them. This becomes a time-consuming process and leads to unnecessary trouble for the user. Also, the results provided to the user do not take into account the user's history, preferences, behavior, context, etc.

During the execution of a life event of the user, he/she may not have a complete view of the process or life event cycle. For instance, the user might forget to buy return gifts for the guests invited for a birthday party.

In light of the foregoing, there is a need for a solution to help the user in managing life events successfully. The solution should consider the user's preferences for a particular type of life event and should be able to provide intelligent solutions for successful execution of the life event.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system for managing one or more life events of a user. The method includes providing a life event user interface that helps the user to input at least one detail related to a life event. The life event user interface can be, for example, a web page helping the user to input details of the life event. The user can input details such as type of life event, budget for the life event, location of life event, a social security number, etc. Further, the method includes providing an activity selection user interface to the user based on predefined criteria. The activity selection user interface helps the user to select at least one activity corresponding to the life event. The predefined criteria can be, for example, a geographical location of the user and budget for the life event. Furthermore, the method includes providing an activity user interface to the user based on at least one of the activities selected by the user and the detail related to the life event provided by the user. The activity user interface helps the user to provide one or more details related to the selected activity. The method also includes performing the selected activity in accordance with a predefined set of instructions corresponding to the selected activity based on one or more of information collated from web-based information sources, information stored in a user profile of the user, recommendations received from human experts related to the selected activity, and recommendations generated from at least one of the information stored in the user profile of the user, information collected from social networking websites, and information collated from web-based information sources.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a system for managing one or more life events of a user is provided. The system includes a display configured to display a life event user interface to the user. As already mentioned, the life event user interface enables the user to provide details related to the life event. The display is further configured to display an activity selection user interface to the user based on the predefined criteria. The activity selection user interface helps the user to select at least one activity corresponding to the life event. The display is also configured to display an activity user interface based on at least one of the selected activities and the detail related to the life event provided by the user. The activity user interface helps the user to provide details related to the selected activity.

The system includes a processor configured to perform the selected activity in accordance with a predefined set of instructions corresponding to the selected activity, which is based on one or more of information collated from web-based information sources, information stored in a user's profile, recommendations received from human experts related to the selected activity, and recommendations generated from at least one of the information stored in the user profile of the user, information collected from social networking websites, and information collated from web-based information sources. In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product comprises a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein for managing one or more life events of a user. The computer program code includes program instructions for providing a life event user interface to the user which enables the user to input at least one detail related to a life event. Further, the computer program code includes program instructions for providing an activity selection user interface to the user based on predefined criteria. The activity selection user interface helps the user to select at least one activity corresponding to the life event. Furthermore, the computer program code includes program instructions for providing an activity user interface to the user based on at least one of the selected activities and the inputted detail. The activity user interface helps the user to provide one or more details related to the activity selected by the user. The computer program code also includes program instructions to perform the selected activity in accordance with a predefined set of instructions corresponding to the selected activity based on one or more of the information collated from web-based information sources, information stored in a user profile of the user, recommendations received from human experts related to the selected activity, and recommendations generated from at least one of the information stored in the user profile of the user, information collected from social networking websites, and information collated from web-based information sources.

An object of the present invention is to enable a user to electronically manage his/her life events. This is accomplished by providing the user relevant recommendations to perform activities related to every aspect of the life event. The recommendations are provided based on the user's personal details, preferences, personal network, his/her history of actions and transactions, present context, geographical location, a list of his/her trusted vendors, information collected from social networking websites, and the information collated from web-based information sources. These recommendations help the user during different stages of life event execution, thus helping him/her in taking appropriate decisions. Another object of the present invention is to provide the user with a customizable

Graphical User Interface (GUI) to enable the user to view the details and status of activities and tasks related to a life event.

Another object of the present invention is to provide human expertise for providing relevant recommendations to the user for efficient management of the life events.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an "event map" for each life event to help the user in determining a list of activities and tasks that are part of the life event.

Another object of the present invention is to serve ad hoc requests, other than the requests related to the life event of the user, by providing a separate communication interface to him/her. For example, the user may input a query in the communication interface, "How do I go from San Francisco to LA by train?", and the present invention will provide relevant solutions to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the invention, wherein like designations denote like elements, and in which

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a life-event hierarchy, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating activities related to an exemplary birthday- event; FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a prior art method for managing an exemplary activity related to the exemplary birthday-event;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method for managing the exemplary activity related to the exemplary birthday-event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing a life-event of a user, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a method for selecting a life-event template, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a system for managing a life-event of a user, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating user interaction with a life-event management system through a plurality of user interfaces, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a client-server model of a life-event management system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a client module of the life event management system shown in FIG. 9, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the server of the life event management system shown in FIG. 9, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary Graphical User Interface (GUI) enabling the user to input details for a birthday-event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an event map showing one or more activities associated with the birthday-event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is an interface illustrating an activity of inviting guests for the birthday- event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 is an interface illustrating a status of invited guests for the birthday-event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 16 is an interface illustrating an exemplary journal view of one or more activities associated with the birthday-event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

,

FIG. 17 is an exemplary Graphical User Interface (GUI) enabling the user to input preferences for selecting a caterer for the birthday-event, in accordance with an embodiments of the invention; and FIG. 18 is an interface illustrating relevant recommendations provided to the user related to the selection of a caterer for the birthday-event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not limited to these embodiments only. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the claims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a life event hierarchy, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A life event 102 can be divided into one or more activities 104, 106, and 108, and each of the one or more activities 104, 106, and 108 can be further divided into one or more tasks. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , activity 106 is further divided into tasks 110, 112, and 1 14. For instance, consider life event 102 to be a birthday celebration that includes activities such as inviting guests, selecting a caterer, reserving a venue, and arranging a photographer. The activity of selecting a caterer can be further divided into tasks such as collecting caterer recommendations from friends and relatives, obtaining quotes from caterers, and paying a deposit to a chosen caterer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating activities related to an exemplary birthday event 200. Birthday event 200 includes various activities at various stages of its "life cycle". The initial set of activities associated with birthday event 200 is to fix the budget 202 and fix the date 204 of the event. For example, to effectively plan a birthday celebration, a planner would have to initially allocate a budget of the celebration, such as USD 3000, and finalize the date of the celebration, such as September 25.

After the planner has decided the budget and date of birthday event 200, the planner reserves the venue 206 of the event. The venue is reserved based on its availability and the allocated budget for birthday event 200. After the venue is reserved, other activities, such as arranging for a caterer 208, arranging for a cake 210, arranging video or photography 212, arranging gifts 214, and inviting guests 216, are executed. The activity of inviting guests includes one or more tasks such as arranging transport 218 for the guests, and sending reminders 220 if a confirmation message is not received from some of them.

After the activities above are completed, birthday event 200 is celebrated at 222 on the proposed date and venue. Thereafter, various post-event activities are executed, such as recording gifts received 224, sending thank you notes 226 to all the guests, paying bills 228, and posting the video 230 of the event on the Internet. In the end, feedback is collected from the guests regarding the event, food, music, etc.

The set of activities mentioned form part of a conventional birthday celebration event. Those ordinarily skilled in the art will appreciate that the mentioned activities are exemplary in nature, and hence, there can be more or less activities associated with a birthday event.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for managing an exemplary activity 300 related to birthday event 200. For the ease of description, activity 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 is considered to be an activity of arranging a caterer for birthday event 200. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the same prior art method can work for other similar activities as well not necessarily related to arranging caterer or birthday events.

The prior art method illustrated in FIG. 3 begins with fixing menu 302 for birthday event 200. After the menu is fixed for the event, the planner of birthday event 200 searches for caterers to get the decided menu prepared. The planner usually searches for the most appropriate caterer in his/her neighborhood by obtaining a list of recommended caterers from his/her personal network 304, from an Internet directory 306, and from his/her own list of trusted vendors 308. In this case, the personal network of the planner will be his/her network of friends, - relatives, and/or colleagues of the planner who can provide information to him about caterers. The planner may interact with his/her personal network either by personally meeting them or via web-based networks, such as emails, social networking websites, and messenger systems. The trusted vendors of the planner are vendors with whom the planner has shared a good experience and whose judgment he/she trusts. When the planner has collated a final list of caterers, he collects feedback 310 for all the caterers in the final list. The feedback may be collected either from the personal network of the planner or by personally interacting with people who have availed themselves of the services of these caterers. Further, the planner, depending upon his preferences and research, chooses some caterers 312 and requests quotes from them. Thereafter, the planner decides the best quote 314 considering the decided menu and the price quoted by the caterer. Finally, he/she places an order 316 to the selected caterer.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method for managing activity 300 of birthday event 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As mentioned in the last figure, activity 300 involves arranging a caterer for birthday event 200.

For the sake of description of this figure, it is assumed that the steps of the method shown in block 402 are performed by an event management software that manages special or routine life events of a user 404. The software generates a list of neighborhood caterers for user 404 from user 404's personal network 406, through Internet directories 408 and/or web-based sources, through the list of trusted vendors 410, and/or through human experts 412 in the catering business. Typically, human experts are provided to user 404 only if user 404 specifically asks for assistance from the experts in the domain, for example, experts in the catering business. In this case, human experts personally interact with user 404 to understand his/her requirements better for the activity to be performed, in this example, arranging for the caterer.

After the software generates the list of caterers, the software collects the caterers' data 414, which includes location of the caterers, usual price tag of the caterers, past experience of the caterers, etc. Thereafter, user preferences and context 416 are used to rank the list of caterers for user 404 in step 418. As an example, if user 404 specifically states that the cost of the caterer should be as low as possible and its location should be as close as possible to the venue, the software will automatically give a higher rank to the caterer who is located close to the venue of birthday event 200 and is cost effective. The context of the user, mentioned above, refers to whether the user is "at home", "at office", "shopping", "busy^", etc.

The list of ranks is displayed to user 404 as a summarized data view 420. After reviewing the list, user 404 selects a few caterers at step 422, from which he/she wishes to get price quotes. The software then obtains quotes from these caterers at step 424 and ranks those quotes at 426 based on the amount of money estimated by the caterers for their services. This ranked list of quotes is then sent to user 404 who decides on one final caterer at 428. Further, the software places an order to the selected final caterer at step 430.

FIG. 4 specifically illustrates the method to manage an activity of a life event, for example, a birthday celebration, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The following will explain a method for managing the entire life event, which may include many activities or tasks that may require the user to complete many activities simultaneously.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing a life event of a user, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. For the purpose of description, it is assumed that the method steps illustrated in FIG. 5 are performed by software installed on a computer or by a web-based application on a server.

At step 502, a life event user interface is provided to the user that enables him/her to input details about the life event that is to be managed. The details provided by the user may include: the name of the person(s) associated with the life event; the type of the life event, such as birthday celebration, wedding anniversary celebration, and paying utility bills; the address of the venue of the life event; the date of the life event; the date of the demise of a person if the life event is a funeral ceremony; an amount of income tax to be paid if the life event is filing income tax returns; the social security number of the user or any other identification number corresponding to the user; the type and amount of utility bill to be paid; an address of the new and old house if the life event is relocating; the name of the college if the life event is admission to a college; the budget of the life event; and the date of the wedding or birthday party.

Those ordinarily skilled in the art will appreciate that the details mentioned above are exemplary in nature and the invention can work effectively with fewer or more details.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the user can provide details related to the life event by using at least one of: a user interface on a web browser; a user interface on a handheld electronic device, for example, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), etc.; a touch screen user interface; and a voice-based user interface.

After the user has provided details about the life event, at step 504, an activity selection user interface is provided to the user based on one or more predefined criteria. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the activity selection user interface includes an "event map" that displays the activities associated with the life event. For instance, if the life event is a birthday celebration, the "event map" may display activities such as arranging a venue, arranging a caterer, sending invitations, and paying bills. In addition, the "event map" can also display the status of each activity, the priority of each activity with respect to other activities, and the sequence of the activities executed for the life event.

The predefined criteria may include the details provided by the user related to the life event, information stored in the user's profile, and the user's preference for a template of the "event map". The user profile may include information such as personal details of the user, the list of trusted vendors of the user, the name and contact of people in the personal network of the user, the history of user^'s web-based actions and transactions, the present context of the user, and the behavior of the user. The context of the user here refers to whether the user is "at home", "at office", "shopping", "busy", etc. The behavior of the user refers to behavioral traits such as spending tendencies of the user and his/her preferences of movies or songs.

After the activity selection user interface, including the "event map", is provided to the user, the user selects at least one activity to be performed from all the displayed activities. For example, the user may select the activity corresponding to "sending invitation to guests" from all the displayed activities.

At step 506, an activity user interface is provided to the user based on at least one of the activities selected by the user and the details provided by him/her related to the life event. For example, if the user is provided with two options ('economy^' and 'lavish') for a life event and the user selects the economy budget for the life event and the activity selected by the user is "arranging a caterer for a birthday party", the activity user interface provided to the user corresponds to the economy budget, and the user interface does not contain input data fields that may be present, for example, for a lavish birthday party. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the activity user interface helps the user to provide details related to the selected activity. For example, the user can provide details such as the budget of the activity, a preference for how to perform the activity, the number of attendees for the activity, the number of travelers for the activity, the number of hotel rooms required for the activity, the number of vehicles required for the activity, the total income of the person associated with the activity, and the list of attendees for the activity.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the details mentioned above are exemplary in nature and the invention will work effectively with fewer or more details.

At step 508, the selected activity is performed in accordance with a predefined set of instructions corresponding to the selected activity. The predefined set of instructions are based on one or more of information collated from: one or more web- based information sources, for example, web-based search engines corresponding to the activity; information stored in the user profile of the user; recommendations received from human experts related to the activity; and other recommendations. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the recommendations from the human experts are used to perform the activity only when the user explicitly asks for help from human experts. Typically, in this case, human experts contact the user personally and gather his/her requirements before providing recommendations.

The other recommendations, as mentioned above, are generated from at least one of: information stored in the user profile of the user; information collected from social networking websites; and information collated from web-based sources. In addition, the activity can also be performed based on the details related to the life event and the activity provided by the user. To make step 508 more clear, consider a scenario where the life event is "a birthday celebration" and the selected activity is "arranging a caterer for the birthday party". The user may provide details for the birthday celebration such as "the budget of the birthday celebration is USD 3000" and "the venue of the birthday party is 32109 S California, Ave Palo Alto CA". Similarly, the user may provide details for the activity such as "the budget for a caterer is USD 1500" and the "caterer has to be located within five miles of the venue". In this case, the activity is performed such that the list of caterers provided to the user corresponds to the above mentioned details provided by the user. Typically, this list of caterers is provided to the user based on the information present on the Internet, social networking websites, information stored in the user profile of the user, etc. Further, if the user is not happy with the list of caterers provided, he/she can request assistance from human experts who contact the user and provide a modified list of caterers based on the user's exact requirements.

Apart from the method steps illustrated in FIG. 5, the method for managing life events can also include steps such as providing a life event download interface to the user to download a new life event template comprising a new life event user interface, a new activity selection user interface, and a new activity user interface. Typically, a new life event template is downloaded to the user's computer when the user specifically requests it. This new life event template may be customized based on the user's demands or the user may select a life event template from the plurality of life event templates available.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the method mentioned above can also include the step of storing the user's profile in a memory.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a method for selecting a life event template, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The method includes the user providing the selected type of life event to be managed. For example, if the user has to celebrate a birthday, the type of life event will be "Celebrations^" 602. After the user provides "Celebrations" as the type of life event, he/she is provided with life event options such as "Birthday Party" 604 and "Baby Shower" 606. A selection of "Birthday Party" 604 navigates the user to input his/her geographical information. For example, the user is provided with options for "USA" 608, "India" 610, and "Europe" 612. After the user selects his geographical location, for example, USA 608, two options to provide information about the economy for the "Birthday Party" 604 is provided to the user. The two options that may be provided to the user are "Royal" 614 and "Budget" 616. Depending on the selection from the two options, templates 618 are provided corresponding to an Event Map "620" that is provided to the user based on the type of life event selected by him/her. For example, if the user selects "Celebration" as the type of life event, an "event map" displaying the activities that needs to be performed for the selected type of life event is displayed. There can be various templates of the "event maps" that are displayed to the user, and these templates are based on details 622, as mentioned above, provided by the user.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a system 702 to manage a life event of a user, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. System 702 includes a display 704, a processor 706, a receiver 708, and a memory 710. Display 704 is configured to display a life event user interface to the user to help in providing details related to the life event. As mentioned in conjunction with FIG. 5, the details related to the life event may include, but are not limited to: the name of the person(s) associated with the life event; the type of the life event, such as birthday celebration, wedding anniversary celebration, and paying utility bills; the address of the venue of the life event; the date of the life event; the date of the demise of a person if the life event is a funeral ceremony; an amount of income tax to be paid if the life event is filing income tax returns; the social security number of the user or any other identification number corresponding to the user; the type and amount of utility bills to be paid; an address of the new and old house if the life event is relocating; the name of the college if the life event is admission in a college; the budget of the life event; and the date of the wedding or birthday party.

Typically, the user provides the details related to the life event by using at least one of: user interfaces on a web browser; a user interface on a handheld electronic device, such as a mobile phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA); a touch screen user interface; and a voice-based user interface.

Display 704 is further configured to display an activity selection user interface to the user based on one or more predefined criteria. The activity selection user interface helps the user select at least one activity from a plurality of activities shown to him/her. As already mentioned, the activity selection user interface includes an "event map" that displays the plurality of activities associated with the life event, including the status of the activities, their dependence on each other, their priorities, and their sequence.

r

The one or more predefined criteria have already been described with reference to FIG. 5.

Display 704 is also configured to display an activity user interface to the user based on at least one of the selected activities and the details provided by the user related to the life event. The activity user interface helps the user provide details related to the selected activity. The examples of details provided by the user related to the selected activity are mentioned in the description of FIG. 5.

As previously mentioned, system 702 also includes processor 706 configured to perform the selected activity in accordance with a predefined set of instructions corresponding to the selected activity. The predefined set of instructions may be based on one or more of: information collated from one or more web-based information sources, for example, web-based search engines corresponding to the activity; information stored in the user profile of the user; recommendations received from human experts related to the activity; and recommendations generated from at least one of information stored in the user's profile, information collected from social networking websites, and information collated from web-based sources. Further, as mentioned with reference to FIG. 5, in addition to the parameters mentioned above, the activity can also be performed based on the details related to the life event and the activity provided by the user. Processor 706 is also configured to provide a life event download interface to help the user download a new life event template, including a new life event user interface, a new activity selection user interface, and a new activity user interface.

System 702 further includes receiver 708 configured to receive the details provided by the user related to the life event and the selected activity. Receiver 708 is also configured to receive the user selection for the activity that he/she wants system 702 to perform.

System 702 also includes memory 710 to store the user's profile. The examples of information stored in the user's profile have already been mentioned with reference to FIG.- 5.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating user interaction with a life event management system 804 through a plurality of user interfaces, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. A user 802 is provided with multiple interface options that include, but are not limited to, Web Browser Interface 806, Mobile Phone Interface 808, Touch Screen Interface 810, and Voice-Based Interface 812 to connect to Internet 814 through which user 802 can interact with life event management system 804. As depicted, life event management system 804 stores a personal network 816 of user 802, a list of trusted vendors 818 of user 802, provisions to search web-based information sources 820, and information repository and human experts 822. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the interfaces mentioned above connect user 802 to a server which includes life event management system 804 by using different communication protocols. The communication protocols may include, but are not limited to, standard HTTP protocol, HTML and FLASH, telephony, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), SMS, social networking platforms, mobile browser, and email.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a client-server model of a life event management system 900, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The figure depicts a client component 902 connected to a server component 904 through a network environment 906. Examples of network environment 906 include, but are not limited to, LAN, WAN, MAN, the Internet, and WLAN.

Client 902, as depicted in the figure, includes multiple applications 908, 910, 912, 914, 916, and 918. The multiple applications 908, 910, 912, 914, 916, and 918 further include diverse life event management applications systems 920, 922, 924, 926, 928, and 930. The diverse life event management application systems may include, but are not limited to, a family life event management system, a personal life event management system, and a business life event management system referred to as a Family System, a Personal System, and a Business System, respectively. As illustrated in FIG. 9, life event management applications 920, 922, and 924 are referred to as "Personal Systems", whereas the life event management applications 926, 928, and 930 are referred to as "Business Systems", depending upon the requirements of the users. The Family System (not shown in FIG. 9) is a personal manager system that helps a complete family to manage routine activities and life events that include, but are not limited to, anniversaries, buying a house, buying a car, and relocating. The Business System is a personal manager system that helps in managing business events of the user. Personal Systems 920, 922, and 924 provide the user with personal management applications that include, but are not limited to, celebrations and buying gifts for family members. These personal systems also provide applications to keep a track of routine activities in personal and professional life of the user. The Personal Systems and Business Systems would normally be a combination of hardware and software.

It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that personal application systems (920, 922, and 924) and business application systems (926, 928 and 930) are shown for illustrative purposes only, and any changes or modifications to the applications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.

Each application 920, 922, 924, 926, 928, and 930 is associated with a database 932, 934, 936, 938, 940, and 942, respectively. Databases 932, 934, 936, 938, 940, and 942 store information related to each of the applications 920, 922, 924, 926, 928, and 930, respectively. In addition, the information related to the user profiles of these applications, personal information of the users, a history of previous transactions, and actions, etc., is also stored in the databases. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, this information can also be stored at a central location, for example a server, a social networking website, a web cloud, etc.

Considering the server side of life event management system 900, as mentioned earlier, server 904 is connected to client 902 through network environment 906. Server 904 interacts with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 944, Administrators 946, Service Vendors 948, and Employees and Human Experts 950. CRM 944 provides customer relationship services to the user of the client application. Administrators 946 are provided with administrative rights to perform any changes or modifications to the applications of the user and server 904. Service Vendors 948 interact with server 904 through a back-end interface. A provision is made for the user to interact with the Service Vendors 948 directly through the server 904. Employees and Human Experts 950 are associated with server 904 to provide services to the user of the client application.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of one embodiment of life event management applications system 920 shown in FIG. 9. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that although FIG. 10 illustrates life event management applications system 920, similar components will be available in other systems as well, like life event management applications systems 922, 924, 926, 928, and 930.

Life event management applications system 920 includes consumer services and common services. Consumer services include, but are not limited to, a Calendar 1002, a To-Do list 1004, a Life Events Execution service 1006, an "At My Service" service 1008, an Alerting and Notification service 1010, a Contact Aggregation service 1012, an Invitations service 1014, and a Personal Information Management (PIM) service 1016. The blocks shown in fig 10 illustrate software components which would normally run on hardware such as a computer or mobile phone. Other consumer services include, but are not limited to, Email Management, Reminders, and Information Search and Management (not shown in FIG. 10). Calendar 1002 helps a user keep track of routine activities, set reminders for significant dates, create events, etc. Calendar 1002 also provides the user with a daily, weekly, and monthly view of all events set by him/her. To-

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GLM-002 Do list 1004 provides user with a view of total number of completed tasks and tasks to be executed by the user. To-Do list 1004 further provides a status of the tasks to be executed by the user along with the task completion dates.

Life Events Execution Service 1006 allows the user to plan and execute a life event. When the user selects Life Events Execution Service 1006, the user is provided with a variety of interactive user interfaces, thereby helping him/her to plan a life event. "At My Service" 1008 serves the user's ad-hoc requests that necessarily may or may not be related to a life event. "At My Service" 1008 provides a separate communication interface to the user to input a query. For example, the user may input a query in the communication interface, "How do I go from San Francisco to LA by train?", and in response to the query "At My Service" 1008 provides relevant solutions to help the user provide information related to the query.

Alerting and Notification service 1010 helps to remind the user about relevant activities, tasks, and events. The user can set alerts for a specific event on a specific date. Alerting and Notification service 1010 reminds the user of the relevant tasks or events. Contact Aggregation service 1012 helps the user to collect contact information from the personal network of the user. The user may be associated with his friends through different portals, such as social networking website and emails. Contact Aggregation service 1012 gathers contact information through the portals, aggregates the contacts, and presents the gathered information to the user. Invitations service 1014 helps the user to invite guests for a particular event; the service sends invitations to the guests and updates the user about the status of the invitations that include accepted invitations, rejected invitations, and pending invitations. PIM service 101 6 enables the user to edit and update personal information of the user. The personal information may include personal email address, official email address, residential address, etc.

The common services include, but are not limited to, System-to-System Messaging 1018, Text-Speech Conversion service 1 020, Event-Virtual Machine service 1022, Recommendations 1024, Security and Trust 1026, Unstructured Communication Service 1028, and Transaction Service 1030. System 2 System Messaging 1018 allows the users of the life event management system to communicate with each other, therefore providing a communication interface to the users. Text-Speech Conversion service 1020 converts text into voice or voice into text depending on the requirement of the user and the life event management system. The system is provided with different interfaces for login. The user may choose among various login options, such as a voice login, a text login, and a touch login.

Event-Virtual Machine service 1022 is an application module that understands a user's requests related to event templates and executes the requests for event templates. The event templates are delivered by the system on demand from the user. Recommendations 1024 provide the user with relevant recommendations for a particular event or activity, considering preferences of the user. Security and Trust 1026 provides the user with the required level of security for storing relevant data at desired locations. If the user desires it, data related to financial transactions of the user may be stored at a more secured location as compared with other data, therefore providing the user with more security. Unstructured Communication service 1028 takes relevant information out of the unstructured or semi-structured communication and presents it in a structured way to the user. For example, if the user receives an email containing a text "Lets meet at 4PM on Monday", the Unstructured Communication service converts this data into a calendar meet on Monday, thereby setting a meeting alert with the sender at 4PM on the mentioned day. Transaction service 1030 keeps track of the transactions of the user, therefore helping the user to consolidate and report the data on a periodic level. Based on the consolidated data for a designated period, the user account is updated and a bill is sent to the user. The consumer services communicate with the common services using Remote Procedure Call (RPC). RPC is a protocol used by a program to request a service from a program located in another computer in a network without having to understand network details. RPC uses the client/server model. The requesting program is a client and the service providing program is the server. The consumer and common services are co-located, and may be hosted either remotely or on the user's local machine. If the services are hosted remotely, the user interface will communicate with the consumer services over the internet through Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Representational State Transfer (REST) Protocol or Action Message Format (AMF), etc. If the services are locally hosted, the User Interface (Ul) will communicate with the consumer services using RPC. The Ul, consumer services, and common services together constitute the client component to communicate with the server component over the internet through SOAP and HTTP Services (REST). Life event management applications system 920 further provides different means of interaction for the user with server 904 (not shown in FIG. 10). The means of interaction include, but are not limited to: user interface on a touch-screen or web- browser 1032 interface; restricted user interface through social networking portals 1034; limited user interface through hand-held devices and mobile browsers 1036, such as mobile phones and PDAs; and voice-based user interface, such as voicemail through phones 1038.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of server 904 of life event management system 900, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Components shown in server 904 can be similar in functionality to components shown in FIG. 10 of the client module of life event management system 900. Typically, components of the client module provide 'lightweight' implementation of the services, or it may simply invoke the services from the components in server 904. This is because the processing capability of devices on which the client module is installed is generally less than the processing capability of server 904. For example, considering Unstructured Communication service 1028, the client module may simply handle simple cases of converting unstructured information (like identifying a meeting information from an email body), and it may invoke components from server 904 for other complicated operations (like identifying people from an image or sending meeting invites to people in an image, etc.)

FIG. 1 1 specifically illustrates applications and components of server 904. The applications and components include business services, which in turn include a Human Expertise service 1 102, a Registry 1 104, a Transaction Manager service 1 106, and a Merchant 1108. As shown in FIG. 1 1 , Human Expertise service 1 102 may include Expertise web-applications and tools, Registry 1 104 may include registry service and template repository, Transaction Manager service 1 106 may include transaction engine and security and trust framework, and Merchant 1 108 may include merchant service and service provider discovery.

The applications and components of server 904 also include common services that include, but are not limited to, a Messaging service 1 1 10, an Unstructured Communication service 1 1 12, a Customer Support service 1 1 14, an Active Relevance Engine service 1 1 16, and an Administrative Service 1 1 18. A communication interface is provided to connect these services to a plurality of service providers 1 120.

Human Expertise service 1 102 includes Expertise Webapp which enables human experts associated with life event management system 900 to access server 904 and respond to user's requests related to help from human experts. Typically, users may consider opinions of the human experts and look .for new recommendations if they are not satisfied with the automated recommendations provided by life event management system 900. Registry service 1 104 maintains a repository of life event templates that further contains data about the structure of the life event, execution states of the life event, and actions and data model required for the life event. The registry service also handles registration of users, human experts, etc. Transaction Manager 1 106 functions in the same or similar manner to the Transaction service 1030 as explained in FIG. 10. Merchant Services 1 108 provides services to discover a service provider for a particular event selected by the user. The service provider discovery depends on data provided by the user and preferences of the user.

Messaging Service 1 1 10 is the same or similar to System-to-System Messaging service 1018, as explained in FIG. 10. Un-Structured Communication Service 1 1 12 is the same or similar to Un-Structured Communication Service 1028 of FIG. 10. Customer Support Services 1 1 14 answers queries of the user over a phone call, through email or through a simple mail. Active Relevance Engine 1 1 16 provides the user with relevant recommendations based on user preferences, personal network of the user, human expertise, web-based information sources, and user trusted network of vendors. Administrative services 1 1 18 are also provided as a common service to the user. Administrative services 1 1 18 typically takes care of any maintenance services associated with life event management system 900, such as updating information about service providers, customer service, etc.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary Graphical User Interface (GUI) 1200 enabling a user to input details for a birthday event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. GUI 1200 will hereinafter be referred to as a life event user interface. Event list 1202 comprising types of life events are provided to the user. The types of life events are classified on the basis of occasions that include, but are not limited to, finance, celebrations, health, government, and emergency. The user selects one of the occasions, for example, if the user selects an occasion "Celebrations", the user would be provided with a particular type of life events that are a part of "celebrations", such as birthday, anniversary, and weekend party.

When the user selects the particular type of life event, for example "Birthday", the user is provided with a life event details interface 1204, in which he/she provides details about the birthday. The details can be, for example, the name of the person whose birthday is to be celebrated, the date of birth of the person, the date of celebration of the birthday, the budget for the event, venue for the event, and options to select a way of celebrating the birthday. The options include economic options such as "Royal" and "Budgef.

Depending on the selection of the two options, a corresponding activity selection interface is provided to the user. "Royal" and "Budget" options provide two different templates for the life event "Birthday", based on different economic and lifestyle preferred by the user. The user is also provided with an option to search for new templates and download new templates for the life event "Birthday", other than "Royal" and "Budget" options. After providing one of the options from "Royal" and "Budget", the user initiates the event "Birthday" through a virtual button "Initiate birthday" 1206 which navigates the user to a new interface, as explained in FIG. 13 below.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an "event map" 1300 showing one or more activities associated with the birthday event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Event map 1300 is provided to the user, through the new interface, which is displayed to the user once he/she clicks on the "initiate birthday" button. The new interface is an activity selection user interface displaying to the user one or more activities associated with the birthday event, such as status of the these activities, priority of these activities, dependency of the activities, and a sequence in which these activities are to be performed, therefore providing the user with a complete overview of the birthday event. The dependency of activities refers to how one activity is dependent on another. As an example, the activity of buying return gifts for guests for a birthday party is dependent on how many guests actually accept the invitation for the party. So, in this case, the activity of 'Buying return gifts' is dependent on the results of the activity 'Invite Guests'.

The activity selection user interface is represented in different ways that include, but are not limited to, a dashboard view, a diagram view, a journal view, and a calendar view. The activity-selection interface of FIG. 13 is represented in a diagram view. The user is provided with suitable options to select one of the above mentioned views. The dashboard view presents a status of the types of life events and activities and tasks related to the types of life events. For example, the dashboard view may provide status information about invitations relating to a number of guests who have accepted the invitation, a number of pending invitation requests, etc. The diagram view, as illustrated in this figure, presents a graphical view of activities related to a life event and the status of activities associated with the life event. Further, the journal view presents a tree view of activities and tasks related to the life event along with the status and priority of the activities and tasks associated with the life event. The calendar view presents a view that provides the status of all the activities and tasks for a specific period of time that includes, but is not limited to, a day, a week, and a month.

As shown, the activity-selection user interface of FIG. 13 displays one or more activities related to the birthday event. The one or more activities include, but are not limited to, "Archive Birthday" 1302, "Planning" 1304, "Arrangements" 1306, "Invite Guests" 1308, "Celebrate Birthday" 1310, "Post Birthday" 1312, "Pay Bills" 1314, and "Collect Experience" 1316. The selection of the one or more activities navigates the user to the selected activity, therefore providing an activity user interface to the user to provide specific details related to the selected activity. The details of activity user interface will be explained in detail in reference with FIG. 14. The lines between the blocks represent the association of one activity to the other. For example, Celebrate Birthday 1310 can only be performed after the activities of 'Invite guests 1308' and 'Arrangements 1306' have been performed. Similarly, Celebrate Birthday 1310 is associated with Post Birthday 1312 as post-birthday activities can only be performed after birthday celebrations have completed.

In addition to the one or more activities, a toolbar illustrating one or more basic activities is provided. The basic activities include, but are not limited to, To-Do list 1316, Emails 1318, Bill 1320, Alerts 1324, Requests 1326, and At My Service 1328. The user is provided with an option to customize the toolbar that includes adding or removing basic activities as per the requirements of the user.

FIG. 14 is an interface 1400 illustrating an activity of inviting guests for the birthday event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. An activity interface 1402 provides an option to a user to select guests from a list of friends and family members. The user is also provided with options to "Add guests" 1404, "Send Invite" 1406 and "Guest Status" 1408. The list of friends and family members is gathered through address books of email accounts and other web-based information sources. When the user selects guests to be invited for the birthday event, invitations are sent to the guests using email and/or other communication channels. A track of responses received from the invitees is also kept and the status of the invitations is displayed to the user based on the responses received from the invitees. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, reminders are sent to the invitees if no response is received after a specific amount of time. FIG. 15 is an interface 1500 illustrating a status of invited guests for the birthday event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. A status interface 1502 provides information about "Guest Status". Status interface 1502 is displayed to the user when he/she requests to view the status of the invitations sent to the guests for the birthday event. The information displayed on status interface 1502 includes, but is not limited to, invitees with tentative status, invitees with accepted status, invitees with declined status, and invitees who could not be reached.

FIG. 16 is an interface 1600 illustrating an exemplary journal view of one or more activities associated with the birthday-event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As already mentioned, the journal view presents a tree view of activities and tasks related to a life event. Interface 1600 provides status and priority of all activities and tasks related to the birthday event, and the status of these activities,, pending actions related to specific activities, and a target date related to specific activities. Each activity is provided with an indicator (not shown in FIG. 16) with different colors depending upon the status of that activity.

FIG. 17 is an exemplary GUI 1700 enabling a user to input preferences for selecting a caterer for the birthday event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. A first user interface 1702 and a second user interface 1704 enable the user to input details related to a task of selecting a caterer by providing user preferences. As shown in the FIG. 17, the user preferences include, but are not limited to, venue, address, date, guests, budget, "price per plate", cuisine, "locate within", "service required", and "special request". In addition to the user preferences, the user is provided with an option to "Select Sources" 1706, through which the user decides information providing sources. For example, if the user wants information to be provided only by the Internet, the user has an option to choose accordingly. After providing the user preferences, user selects "Get Recommendations" 1708 to view a list of caterers. The view displayed to the user, after he/she clicks the option "Get Recommendations" 1708, is illustrated in FIG. 18.

FIG. 18 is an interface 1800 illustrating relevant recommendations provided to the user related to the selection of a caterer for the birthday event, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Recommendation interface 1802 provides details of relevant recommendations in a particular order. In case the user is not satisfied with the list of results provided to him/her or if the user has special requirements that cannot be met by the list of results provided to him/her, the user is provided with an option to request assistance from a human expert related to the catering business within the geographical area of the user. In that case, the user provides special requirements that are looked upon by the human experts.

After the user is satisfied with the results shown to him/her, the user further selects one or more caterers to get quotes from them. Depending on the quotes provided by the selected caterers, the user selects one of the caterers by sending a final message to the caterer through "Finalize caterer" 1804 option.

The present invention provides advantages to the user by providing relevant recommendations related to the life event to the user, therefore helping the user in , saving time and effort. The present invention provides a complete overview of the life event selected by the user by providing corresponding user interfaces, therefore helping the user to make appropriate decisions. Further, the invention considers personal preferences of the user and information provided by the user to perform activities/tasks related to a life event. The present invention also provides a solution for serving ad-hoc requests inputted by the user. Furthermore, the present invention provides the user with an option to personalize a life event template by customizing an "event map" associated with the life event.

The method, as described in the present invention, or any of its components, may be embodied in the form of a computer system. Typical examples of a computer system include a general-purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a peripheral integrated circuit element, and other devices or arrangements of devices that are capable of implementing the steps constituting the method of the present invention.

The computer system comprises a computer, an input device, and a display unit. The computer comprises a microprocessor, which is connected to a communication bus. The computer also includes a memory, which may include Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM). Further, the computer system comprises a storage device, which can be a hard disk drive or a removable storage drive, such as a floppy disk drive and an optical disk drive. Furthermore, the storage device can be other similar means for loading computer programs or other instructions on the computer system.

To process input data, the computer system executes a set of instructions that are stored in one or more storage elements. The storage elements may also store data or other information, as desired, and may be an information source or physical memory element present in the processing machine.

The set of instructions may include various commands that instruct the processing machine to perform specific tasks, such as the steps constituting the method for the present invention. The set of instructions may be in the form of a software program. The software may be in various forms such as system or application software. The software may also be in the form of a collection of separate programs, a program module with a larger program, or a portion of a program module. Further, the software may include modular programming in the form of object-oriented programming.

Processing of input data by the processing machine may be in response to user commands or to the results of previous processing.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing one or more life-events of a user, the method comprising:

providing a life-event user interface to the user, the life-event user interface enabling the user to provide at least one detail related to a life-event;

providing an activity-selection user interface to the user based on one or more predefined criteria, the activity-selection user interface enabling selection of at least one activity corresponding to the life event;

providing an activity user interface to the user based on at least one of the selected at least one activity by the user and the at least one detail related to the life-event, the activity user interface enabling the user to provide one or more details related to the at least one activity; and

performing the at least one activity in accordance with a predefined set of instructions corresponding to the at least one activity based on one or more of:

^' information collated from one or more web-based information sources; information stored in a user profile of the user;

recommendations received from one or more human experts related to the at least one activity; and

recommendations generated from at least one of:

the information stored in the user profile of the user;

information collected from one or more social networking websites; and

information collated from the one or more web-based information sources.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the at least one activity in accordance with the predefined set of instructions is further based on the at least one detail related to the life-event and the one or more details related to the at least one activity.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a life-event download interface to the user to enable the user to download a new life-event template, wherein the new life-event template comprises a new life-event user interface, a new activity-selection user interface and a new activity user interface.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one detail of the life-event comprises at least one of a type of the life-event, an address of a venue of the life-event, a date for the life-event, a date of demise of a person, an amount of an income tax, a social security number, an identification number corresponding to the user, a type of a utility bill, an amount of the utility bill, an address of a new house, a name of a person associated with the life-event, a name of a college for admission, a fees for admission to the college, a date of a wedding of a person and a budget for the life-event.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activity-selection user interface comprises an event map displaying one or more activities associated with the life-event.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the event map further displays a status of the one or more activities, a priority of the one or more activities, a dependency of the one or more activities and a sequence of the one or more activities to be performed.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the predefined criteria comprises at least one of:

the at least one detail related to the life-event;

the information stored in the user profile of the user; and

a user preference for a template of the event map.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information stored in the user profile of the user comprises at least one of a personal detail of the user, a list of trusted vendors of the user, a personal network of the user, a history of user actions, a history of user transactions, a present context of the user and a behavior of the user.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one detail related to the life-event is received through at least one of a user interface on a web browser, a user interface on a handheld electronic device, a touch screen user interface and a voice based user interface.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more details related to the at least one activity is one or more of a budget of the at least one activity, a user preference for performing the at least one activity, a number of attendees for the at least one activity, a number of travelers for the at least one activity, a number of hotel rooms required for the at least one activity, a number of vehicles required for the at least one activity, a total income of a person for the at least one activity and a list of attendees for the at least one activity.

1 1. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the user profile of the user.

12. A system for managing one or more life-events of a user, the system comprising:

a display configured to:

display a life-event user interface to the user, the life-event user interface enabling the user to provide at least one detail related to a life-event;

display an activity-selection user interface to the user based on one or more predefined criteria, the activity-selection user interface enabling selection of at least one activity corresponding to the life event;

display an activity user interface to the user based on at least one of the selected at least one activity by the user and the at least one detail related to the life-event, the activity user interface enabling the user to provide one or more details related to the at least one activity; and

a processor configured to perform the at least one activity in accordance with a predefined set of instructions corresponding to the at least one activity based on one or more of:

information collated from one or more web-based information sources; information stored in a user profile of the user;

recommendations generated from at least one of:

the information stored in the user profile of the user; information collected from one or more social networking websites; and

information collated from the one or more web-based information sources.

13. The system of claim 12 further comprising a receiver configured to:

receive the at least one detail related to the life-event;

receive a user selection of the at least one activity corresponding to the life event; and

receive one or more details related to the at least one activity.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein performing the at least one activity in accordance with the predefined set of instructions is further based on the at least one detail related to the life-event and the one or more details related to the at least one activity.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to provide a life-event download interface to the user to enable the user to download a new life-event template, wherein the new life-event template comprises a new life- event user interface, a new activity-selection user interface and a new activity user interface.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one detail of the life-event comprises at least one of a type of the life-event, an address of a venue of the life-event, a date for the life-event, a date of demise of a person, an amount of an income tax, a social security number, an identification number corresponding to the user, a type of a utility bill, an amount of the utility bill, an address of a new house, a name of a person associated with the life-event, a name of a college for admission, a fees for admission to the college, a date of a wedding of a person and a budget for the life-event.

17. The system of claim 2, wherein the activity-selection user interface comprises an event map displaying one or more activities associated with the life-event.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the event map further displays a status of the one or more activities, a priority of the one or more activities, a dependency of the one or more activities and a sequence of the one or more activities to be performed.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the predefined criteria comprises at least one of:

the at least one detail related to the life-event;

the information stored in the user profile of the user; and

a user preference for a template of the event map.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the information stored in the user profile of the user comprises at least one of a personal detail of the user, a list of trusted vendors of the user, a personal network of the user, a history of user actions, a history of user transactions, a present context of the user and a behavior of the user.

21. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one detail related to the life-event is received through at least one of a user interface on a web browser, a user interface on a handheld electronic device, a touch screen user interface and a voice based user interface.

22. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more details related to the at least one activity is one or more of a budget of the at least one activity, a user preference for performing the at least one activity, a number of attendees for the at least one activity, a number of travelers for the at least one activity, a number of hotel rooms required for the at least one activity, a number of vehicles required for the at least one activity, a total income of a person for the at least one activity and a list of attendees for the at least one activity.

23. The system of claim 12 further comprising a memory for storing the user profile of the user.

24. A computer program product for use with a computer, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein for managing one or more life-events of a user, the computer program code comprising:

program instructions for providing a life-event user interface to the user, the life- event user interface enabling the user to provide at least one detail related to a life-event;

program instructions for providing an activity-selection user interface to the user based on one or more predefined criteria, the activity-selection user interface enabling selection of at least one activity corresponding to the life^' event;

program instructions for providing an activity user interface to the user based on at least one of the selected at least one activity by the user and the at least one detail related to the life-event, the activity user interface enabling the user to provide one or more details related to the at least one activity;

program instructions for performing the at least one activity in accordance with a predefined set of instructions corresponding to the at least one activity based on one or more of:

recommendations generated from at least one of:

the information stored in the user profile of the user;

information collected from one or more social networking websites; and

information collated from the one or more web-based information sources.