Methods, systems and computer program products for facilitating user interaction with tax return preparation programs

Abstract

A system for facilitating user interaction with a tax return preparation program includes a completion graph parser configured to identify a portion of a tax return completion graph corresponding to a tax topic. The system also includes a query object creator configured to analyze and assign a node in the portion as a query object property. The system further includes a natural language synthesis engine configured to map the property to a first natural language question. Moreover, the system includes a natural language analysis engine configured to analyze user input and to identify a characteristic that maps to the property based on the user input. In addition, the system includes a runner interface configured to modify the query object based on the characteristic, update the tax return completion graph based on the modified query object, and analyze the updated tax return completion graph to determine whether it is complete.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for implementing a virtual agent to facilitate user interaction with an electronic form, comprising:
 a completion graph parser executed on a computing device and being configured to identify one or more nodes of a completion graph corresponding to a topic for the electronic form;   a query object creator executed on the computing device and being configured to analyze a first node from the one or more nodes and to assign the first node as a first property of a query object related to the topic;   a natural language synthesis engine executed on the computing device and being configured to map the first property of the query object related to the topic to a first natural language question;   a natural language analysis engine executed on the computing device and being configured to analyze user input and to identify a characteristic of the user that maps to the first property of the query object related to the topic based on the user input; and   a runner interface executed on the computing device and being configured to:
 modify the query object related to the topic based on the characteristic of the user, 
 update the completion graph based on the modified query object, 
 analyze the updated completion graph to determine whether the updated completion graph is complete, 
 map a result of the updated completion graph to a natural language statement when the runner interface determines the updated completion graph is complete; and 
 instruct the user interface to communicate the natural language statement to the user when the runner interface determines the updated completion graph is complete. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the completion graph parser is configured to reformat the completion graph. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the completion graph parser is configured to assign a default value to additional one or more nodes of the completion graph not corresponding to the topic. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the natural language synthesis engine is configured to generate the first natural language question based on the first property of the query object related to the topic. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a user interface configured to communicate the first natural language question to a user and to receive the user input from the user in response to communicating the first natural language question. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the natural language analysis engine comprises a natural language construct selected from the group consisting of an equivalent sentence structure, a synonym, and an antonym. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the natural language analysis engine is configured to analyze the user input using the natural language construct. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the runner interface is configured to analyze the updated completion graph to determine whether the updated completion graph is complete in response to the natural language analysis engine identifying the characteristic that maps to the first property of the query object related to the topic. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the runner interface is configured to:
 instruct the query object creator to generate a second property of the query object related to the topic based on the node; and   instruct the natural language synthesis engine to map the second property of the query object to a second natural language question when the runner interface determines the updated completion graph is incomplete.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the runner interface is configured to instruct the user interface to communicate the second natural language question to the user when the runner interface determines the updated completion graph is incomplete. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method for implementing a virtual agent to facilitate user interaction with an electronic form, the method comprising:
 identifying, by a completion graph parser executed on a computing device, one or more nodes of a completion graph corresponding to a topic for the electronic form;   analyzing, by a query object creator executed on the computing device, a first node from the one or more nodes;   assigning, by the query object creator, the first node as a first property of a query object related to the topic;   mapping, by a natural language synthesis engine executed on the computing device, the first property of the query object related to the topic to a first natural language question;   communicating the first natural language question to a user;   receiving, by a natural language analysis engine executed on the computing device, user input from the user in response to communicating the first natural language question;   analyzing, by a natural language analysis engine, the user input to identify a characteristic that maps to the first property of the query object related to the topic based on the user input;   modifying, by a runner interface executed on the computing device, the query object related to the topic based on the characteristic of the user;   updating the completion graph based on the modified query object;   analyzing the updated completion graph to determine whether the updated completion graph is complete,   mapping a result of the updated completion graph to a natural language statement when the runner interface determines the updated completion graph is complete; and   instructing the user interface to communicate the natural language statement to the user when the runner interface determines the updated completion graph is complete.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising reformatting the completion graph. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising assigning a default value to additional one or more nodes of the completion graph not corresponding to the topic. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising generating the first natural language question based on the first property of the query object related to the topic. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising analyzing the user input using a natural language construct selected from the group consisting of an equivalent sentence structure, a synonym, and an antonym. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising analyzing the updated completion graph to determine whether the updated completion graph is complete in response to identifying the characteristic that maps to the first property of the query object related to the topic. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 generating a second property of the query object related to the topic based on the node; and   mapping the second property of the query object related to the topic to a second natural language question when it is determined that the updated completion graph is incomplete.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising communicating the second natural language question to the user when it is determined that the updated completion graph is incomplete.