Interactive product improvement through the use of variants and data gathering reports in a system that can be updated on the fly

Abstract

Techniques for interactive product improvement through the use of variants and data gathering reports in a system that can be updated on the fly are disclosed. In some embodiments, interactive product improvement through the use of variants and data gathering reports in a system that can be updated on the fly includes processing a manifest to determine that a plug-in that includes a plurality of variants is available; randomly selecting a variant for the plug-in to automatically install on a device; and automatically installing the plug-in, in which the randomly selected variant is executed at run-time.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 determining, by a processor, that a plurality of variants of a plug-in are available for installation on a device;   selecting, by the processor, a variant of the plug-in of the plurality of variants of the plug-in for installation on the device, the variant of the plug-in selected based on a predefined allocation scheme that specifies how the plurality of variants of the plug-in are to be allocated for installation on a plurality of devices; and   installing the selected variant of the plug-in on the device.   
     
     
         22 . The method recited in claim  1 , wherein the selected variant facilitates a feedback loop for providing interactive product improvement through a use of variants and data gathering reports. 
     
     
         23 . The method of claim  1 , further comprising:
 monitoring user activity that indicates interaction with at least one of the plurality of variants of the plug-in;   generating a report based on the monitored user activity; and   sending the report to a server.   
     
     
         24 . The method of claim  1 , further comprising modifying the predefined allocation scheme to change a percentage allocation for each of the plurality of variants based on the monitored user activity. 
     
     
         25 . The method of claim  1 , further comprising modifying the predefined allocation scheme to designate one of the plurality of variants as a default variant for the plug-in. 
     
     
         26 . The method of claim  1 , wherein the selected variant requires a license to execute. 
     
     
         27 . The method of claim  1 , wherein the selected variant requires a license to execute, and wherein additional payment is required to access the selected variant. 
     
     
         28 . A system comprising:
 a processor; and   a non-transitory computer-readable medium communicatively coupled to the processor,   wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium that perform operations comprising:
 selecting a variant of the plug-in of the plurality of variants of the plug-in for installation on the device, the variant of the plug-in selected based on a predefined allocation scheme that specifies how the plurality of variants of the plug-in are to be allocated for installation on a plurality of devices; and 
 installing the selected variant of the plug-in on the device. 
   
     
     
         29 . The system recited in claim  8 , wherein the selected variant facilitates a feedback loop for providing interactive product improvement through a use of variants and data gathering reports. 
     
     
         30 . The system recited in claim  8 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium that perform operations comprising:
 monitoring user activity that indicates interaction with at least one of the plurality of variants of the plug-in;   generating a report based on the monitored user activity; and   sending the report to a server.   
     
     
         31 . The system recited in claim  8 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium that perform operations comprising modifying the predefined allocation scheme to change a percentage allocation for each of the plurality of variants based on the monitored user activity. 
     
     
         32 . The system recited in claim  8 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium that perform operations comprising modifying the predefined allocation scheme to designate one of the plurality of variants as a default variant for the plug-in. 
     
     
         33 . The system recited in claim  8 , wherein the selected variant requires a license to execute. 
     
     
         34 . The system recited in claim  8 , wherein the selected variant requires a license to execute, and wherein additional payment is required to access the selected variant. 
     
     
         35 . A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a tangible computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
 determining that a plurality of variants of a plug-in are available for installation on a device;   selecting a variant of the plug-in of the plurality of variants of the plug-in for installation on the device, the variant of the plug-in selected based on a predefined allocation scheme that specifies how the plurality of variants of the plug-in are to be allocated for installation on a plurality of devices; and   installing the selected variant of the plug-in on the device.   
     
     
         36 . The computer program product recited in claim  15 , wherein the selected variant facilitates a feedback loop for providing interactive product improvement through a use of variants and data gathering reports. 
     
     
         37 . The computer program product recited in claim  15 , wherein the computer program product being embodied in a tangible computer readable storage medium further comprises computer instructions for:
 monitoring user activity that indicates interaction with at least one of the plurality of variants of the plug-in;   generating a report based on the monitored user activity; and   sending the report to a server.   
     
     
         38 . The computer program product recited in claim  15 , wherein the computer program product being embodied in a tangible computer readable storage medium further comprises computer instructions for modifying the predefined allocation scheme to change a percentage allocation for each of the plurality of variants based on the monitored user activity. 
     
     
         39 . The computer program product recited in claim  15 , wherein the computer program product being embodied in a tangible computer readable storage medium further comprises computer instructions for modifying the predefined allocation scheme to designate one of the plurality of variants as a default variant for the plug-in. 
     
     
         40 . The computer program product recited in claim  15 , wherein the selected variant requires a license to execute.