Importance

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Abstract

In response to an internet interrogation by a user for goods or services, a hypermedia presentation is provided that starts out with delivery and presentation of simple thumbnail descriptions of the available goods and services, and proceeds in steps through delivery and presentation of more complex descriptions. The presentations are arranged in segments and permit multiple modes of operation. Each mode has a different set of attributes that permit progress through the presentation in a different manner. When a user first enters a website, he is placed in navigation mode which enables him to browse the website by moving from category to category of goods, having an initial look at the offerings of each category. The user can then move on to the inspection and/or transaction modes. In the inspection mode: the user can examine in more detail the various aspects of the goods he is interested in; can change to a more detailed explanation; zoom in on various portions of the goods; and obtain related information. When the user enters the transaction mode, he is apparently ready to purchase the goods and is given appropriate options for this purpose such as: to obtain a quote; to ask for human assistance, and to trigger a transaction. As the user navigates through the presentation in one or more of its modes of operation, his selection process is monitored not only for this overt acts concerning selected goods and services, but also for other factors that may be revealed by the user's selection process.

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First Claim