System and methods for touch pattern detection and user interface adaptation

• US 10,235,150 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2014
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Peng, Long, Guan, Xin, Meirhaeghe, Olivier D, Wang, Xiu Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Klicos, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US14/560,924
• Publication Number:
  US 20160162276A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,566 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

A communication system includes client devices that detect erroneous interactions with touch screen Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) of software apps and transmit information about the erroneous interactions to servers which aggregate the information to identify erroneous interactions that occur at a significant rate across a population of devices. The software apps are updated to reduce the likelihood of the identified erroneous interactions and the updated versions of the apps are deployed to the client devices.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device and from a server, a first version of a software application;

while executing the first version of the software application, detecting, by the computing device, a predefined sequence of actions in a first graphical user interface that are indicative of one or more erroneous interactions with the first graphical user interface;

sending, by the computing device and to the server, information associated with the one or more erroneous interactions, wherein the information further includes context information identifying the first version of the software application and at least one of a make or a model of the computing device, and wherein the at least one of the make or the model of the computing device is used to associate the one or more erroneous interactions with a particular size of a screen of the computing device or with a range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen; and

after sending the information associated with the one or more erroneous interactions to the server, receiving, by the computing device, a second version of the software application that is modified relative to the first version, wherein the second version of the software application provides a second graphical user interface that is modified, relative to the first graphical user interface, for the range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the predefined sequence of actions that are indicative of the one or more erroneous interactions comprises:

detecting, by the computing device, at least a predetermined number of occurrences of a sequence of events, wherein the sequence of events includes a first touch of a passive region of the first graphical user interface followed by, within a predetermined time limit, a second touch of an active region of the first graphical user interface that is adjacent to the passive region.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

responsive to detecting at least the predetermined number of occurrences of the sequence of events, adjusting, by the computing device, a size of the active region to include at least a portion of the passive region.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the predefined sequence of actions that are indicative of the one or more erroneous interactions comprises:

detecting, by the computing device, at least a predetermined number of occurrences of a sequence of events, wherein the sequence of events includes a touch of a first active region of the first graphical user interface followed by, within a predetermined time, a back button press in the first graphical user interface, followed by a touch of a second active region of the first graphical user interface.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

responsive to detecting at least the predetermined number of occurrences of the sequence of events, increasing a size of the second active region.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

while executing the second version of the software application, outputting, by the computing device and for display, an active region of the second graphical user interface that has at least one attribute selected from a list consisting of a size, a shape, and a position that is changed relative a corresponding region of the first graphical user interface that is output during execution of the first version of the software application.

7. A method comprising:

deploying, by a server and to a plurality of computing devices, an initial version of a software application for execution;

receiving, by the server and from a first computing device included in the plurality of computing devices, first information associated with first one or more erroneous interactions with a first graphical user interface that is output by the first computing device during execution of the initial version of the software application, wherein the first information further includes first context information identifying the initial version of the software application and at least one of a make or a model of the first computing device;

receiving, by the server and from a second computing device included in the plurality of computing devices, second information associated with second one or more erroneous interactions with a second graphical user interface that is output by the second computing device during execution of the initial version of the software application, wherein the second information further includes second context information identifying the initial version of the software application and at least one of a make or a model of the second computing device;

associating, by the server and based on the at least one of the make or the model of the first computing device, the first one or more erroneous interactions with a particular size of a screen of the first computing device or with a first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device;

associating, by the server and based on the at least one of the make or the model of the second computing device, the second one or more erroneous interactions with a particular size of a screen of the second computing device or with a second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device;

aggregating, by the server, the first information received from the first computing device with the second information received form the second computing device to obtain aggregated information;

receiving, by the server and based on the aggregated information, at least one modified version of the software application that is modified relative to the initial version of the software application, wherein the at least one modified version of the software application provides at least one graphical user interface that is modified, relative to the first graphical user interface and the second graphical user interface, for at least one of the first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device or the second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device; and

deploying, by the server and to one or more of the first computing device or the second computing device, the at least one modified version of the software application for execution.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing, by the server, statistics on the first one or more erroneous interactions and the second one or more erroneous interactions grouped by first and second context information.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first one or more erroneous interactions indicate a sequence of actions in the first graphical user interface that are detected by the first computing device during execution of the initial version of the software application, and wherein the sequence of actions comprises at least a predetermined number of occurrences of a sequence of events including:

a first touch of a passive region of the first graphical user interface followed by, within a predetermined time limit, a second touch of an active region of the first graphical user interface, the active region being adjacent to the passive region.

10. The method of claim 7,

wherein receiving the at least one modified version of the software application comprises:

receiving, by the server, a first modified version of the software application that is modified relative to the initial version of the software application, the first modified version of the software application providing a first modified graphical user interface that is modified relative to the first graphical user interface for the first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device; and

receiving, by the server, a second modified version of the software application that is modified relative to the initial version of the software application, the second modified version of the software application providing a second modified graphical user interface that is modified relative to the second graphical user interface for the second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device, and

wherein deploying the at least one modified version of the software application for execution comprises;

deploying, by the server and to the first computing device, the first modified version of the software application; and

deploying, by the server and to the second computing device, the second modified version of the software application.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the first one or more erroneous interactions indicate a sequence of actions in the first graphical user interface that are detected by the first computing device during execution of the initial version of the software application, and wherein the sequence of actions comprises at least a predetermined number of occurrences of a sequence of events including:

a touch of a first active region of the first graphical user interface followed by, within a predetermined time, a back button press, followed by a touch of a second active region of the first graphical user interface.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining, by the server and based on the at least one of the make or model of the first computing device, the first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device; and

determining, by the server and based on the at least one of the make or model of the second computing device, the second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device,

wherein aggregating the first information with the second information to obtain the aggregated information comprises aggregating the first information with the second information based on the first ranges of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device and on the second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device.

13. A computing device comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to;

receive, from a server, a first version of a software application;

while executing the first version of the software application, detect a predefined sequence of actions in a first graphical user interface that are indicative of one or more erroneous interactions with the first graphical user interface;

send, to the server, information associated with the one or more erroneous interactions, wherein the information further includes context information identifying the first version of the software application and at least one of a make or a model of the computing device, and wherein the at least one of the make or the model of the computing device is used to associate the one or more erroneous interactions with a particular size of a screen of the computing device or with a range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen; and

after sending the information associated with the one or more erroneous interactions to the server, receive a second version of the software application that is modified relative to the first version, wherein the second version of the software application provides a second graphical user interface that is modified, relative to the first graphical user interface, for the range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the computing device.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory that cause the one or more processors to detect the predefined sequence of actions that are indicative of the one or more erroneous interactions further cause the one or more processors to:

detect at least a predetermined number of occurrences of a sequence of events, wherein the sequence of events includes a first touch of a passive region of the first graphical user interface followed by, within a predetermined time limit, a second touch of an active region of the first graphical user interface that is adjacent to the passive region.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory further cause the one or more processors to:

responsive to detecting at least the predetermined number of occurrences of the sequence of events, adjust a size of the active region to include at least a portion of the passive region.

16. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory that cause the one or more processors to detect the predefined sequence of actions that are indicative of the one or more erroneous interactions further cause the one or more processors to:

detect at least a predetermined number of occurrences of a sequence of events, wherein the sequence of events includes a touch of a first active region of the first graphical user interface followed by, within a predetermined time, a back button press in the first graphical user interface, followed by a touch of a second active region of the first graphical user interface.

17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory further cause the one or more processors to:

responsive to detecting at least the predetermined number of occurrences of the sequence of events, increase a size of the second active region.

18. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory further cause the one or more processors to:

while executing the second version of the software application, output, for display, an active region of the second graphical user interface that has at least one attribute selected from a list consisting of a size, a shape, and a position that is changed relative a corresponding region of the first graphical user interface that is output during execution of the first version of the software application.

19. A server comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to;

deploy, to a plurality of computing devices, an initial version of a software application for execution;

receive, from a first computing device included in the plurality of computing devices, first information associated with first one or more erroneous interactions with a first graphical user interface that is output by the first computing device during execution of the initial version of the software application, wherein the first information further includes first context information identifying the initial version of the software application and at least one of a make or a model of the first computing device;

receive, from a second computing device included in the plurality of computing devices, second information associated with second one or more erroneous interactions with a second graphical user interface that is output by the second computing device during execution of the initial version of the software application, wherein the second information further includes second context information identifying the initial version of the software application and at least one of a make or a model of the second computing device;

associate, based on the at least one of the make or the model of the first computing device, the first one or more erroneous interactions with a particular size of a screen of the first computing device or with a first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device;

associate, based on the at least one of the make or the model of the second computing device, the second one or more erroneous interactions with a particular size of a screen of the second computing device or with a second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device;

aggregate the first information received from the first computing device with the second information received form the second computing device to obtain aggregated information;

receive, based on the aggregated information, at least one modified version of the software application that is modified relative to the initial version of the software application, wherein the at least one modified version of the software application provides at least one graphical user interface that is modified, relative to the first graphical user interface and the second graphical user interface, for at least one of the first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device or the second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device; and

deploy, to one or more of the first computing device or the second computing device, the at least one modified version of the software application for execution.

20. The server of claim 19, wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory further cause the one or more processors to:

provide statistics on the first one or more erroneous interactions and the second one or more erroneous interactions grouped by first and second context information.

21. The server of claim 19, wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory further cause the one or more processors to:

determine, based on the at least one of the make or model of the first computing device, the first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device;

determine, based on the at least one of the make or model of the second computing device, the second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device; and

aggregate the first information with the second information based on the first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device and on the second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device.

22. The server of claim 19,

wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory that cause the one or more processors to receive the at least one modified version of the software application further cause the one or more processors to:

receive a first modified version of the software application that is modified relative to the initial version of the software application, the first modified version of the software application providing a first modified graphical user interface that is modified relative to the first graphical user interface for the first range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the first computing device; and

receive a second modified version of the software application that is modified relative to the initial version of the software application, the second modified version of the software application providing a second modified graphical user interface that is modified relative to the second graphical user interface for the second range of screen sizes that includes the particular size of the screen of the second computing device, and

wherein the instructions stored by the at least one memory that cause the one or more processors to deploy the at least one modified version of the software application for execution further cause the one or more processors to;

deploy, to the first computing device, the first modified version of the software application; and

deploy, to the second computing device, the second modified version of the software application.