Support for swimlanes in a mobile graphical user interface

• US 10,698,595 B1
• Filed: 06/28/2019
• Issued: 06/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Inventors: Saragadam, Chaitanya, Mohammed, Mohammed Furqan, Pinto, Sancho Savio, Sumant, Tejas Mohan
• Primary Examiner(s): Belousov, Andrey
• Application Number:
  US16/457,407
• Time in Patent Office: 368 Days
• Field of Search: 715769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• 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

Abstract

A server device may transmit, to a client device, data and program code that instructs the client device to display a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI may include cards associated with a first categorical group of a first plurality of categorical groups and a second categorical group of a second plurality of categorical groups. The toggling, dragging, and releasing of a particular card causes the GUI to: (i) display a grid interface containing vertical lanes associated with the first plurality of categorical groups and horizontal lanes associated with the second plurality of categorical groups, wherein intersections of vertical lanes and horizontal lanes define graphical boxes, (ii) slide the particular card among the graphical boxes, and (iii) associate the particular card with a third categorical group or a fourth categorical group defined by the graphical box that the particular card is released.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

persistent storage containing data representing;

a definition of a first plurality of categorical groups, a definition of a second plurality of categorical groups, and a plurality of information items, each associated with one of the first plurality of categorical groups and one of the second plurality of categorical groups; and

a server device configured to transmit, to a client device, the data and program code that instructs the client device to generate and display a graphical user interface using the data,

wherein the graphical user interface includes a set of cards representing information items associated with a first categorical group of the first plurality of categorical groups and a second categorical group of the second plurality of categorical groups, and

wherein toggling, dragging, and releasing of a particular card of the set of cards causes the graphical user interface to;

(i) in response to the toggling, automatically display a grid interface, wherein the grid interface contains a set of vertical lanes respectively associated with at least some of the first plurality of categorical groups and a set of horizontal lanes respectively associated with at least some of the second plurality of categorical groups, wherein intersections of vertical lanes and horizontal lanes define graphical boxes, wherein the particular card is initially located in a first graphical box of the graphical boxes, (ii) in response to the dragging, slide the particular card among the graphical boxes of the grid interface, and (iii) in response to the releasing, associate the information item represented by the particular card with a third categorical group of the first plurality of categorical groups or a fourth categorical group of the second plurality of categorical groups, wherein the particular card is released in a second graphical box of the graphical boxes that is defined by at least one of the third categorical group or the fourth categorical group.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein, before the toggling, names of the first categorical group and the second categorical group are respectively displayed vertically and horizontally adjacent to the set of cards.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein, before the toggling, the set of cards are disposed within a vertical or horizontal row.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein, during the dragging of the particular card among the graphical boxes of the grid interface, the graphical user interface is configured to display names of categorical groups respectively associated with the graphical boxes that the particular card is being slid across.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the releasing causes the graphical user interface to display a second set of cards representing information items associated with the third categorical group and the fourth categorical group, wherein the particular card is one of the second set of cards.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the client device is a mobile client device with a display screen that has a diagonal length of 13 inches or less.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the display screen has a diagonal length of 7 inches or less.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the toggling comprises selecting and moving, by way of the graphical user interface, the particular card to an edge of the display screen.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the graphical boxes have a predefined size that is based on a size of the display screen such that a predefined number of the graphical boxes can fit on the display screen, and wherein a size of the particular card is adjusted to match the predefined size.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein, during display of the grid interface, a number of vertical lanes in the set of vertical lanes and a number of horizontal lanes in the set of horizontal lanes are each based on a size of the display screen.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein, during display of the grid interface, sliding the particular card to an edge of the display screen causes the grid interface to display a new set of vertical lanes or a new set of horizontal lanes collectively containing at least one lane not in the set of vertical lanes or the set of horizontal lanes.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein rotating the display screen to a new orientation causes the grid interface to display a new set of verticals lanes and a new set of horizontal lanes that fit the new orientation.

13. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining, from persistent storage, data representing a definition of a first plurality of categorical groups, a definition of a second plurality of categorical groups, and a plurality of information items, each associated with one of the first plurality of categorical groups and one of the second plurality of categorical groups; and

transmitting, to a client device, the data and program code that instructs the client device to generate and display a graphical user interface using the data, wherein the graphical user interface includes a set of cards representing information items associated with a first categorical group of the first plurality of categorical groups and a second categorical group of the second plurality of categorical groups, and wherein toggling, dragging, and releasing of a particular card of the set of cards causes the graphical user interface to;

(i) in response to the toggling, automatically display a grid interface, wherein the grid interface contains a set of vertical lanes respectively associated with at least some of the first plurality of categorical groups and a set of horizontal lanes respectively associated with at least some of the second plurality of categorical groups, wherein intersections of vertical lanes and horizontal lanes define graphical boxes, wherein the particular card is initially located in a first graphical box of the graphical boxes, (ii) in response to the dragging, slide the particular card among the graphical boxes of the grid interface, and (iii) in response to the releasing, associate the information item represented by the particular card with a third categorical group of the first plurality of categorical groups or a fourth categorical group of the second plurality of categorical groups, wherein the particular card is released in a second graphical box of the graphical boxes that is defined by at least one of the third categorical group or the fourth categorical group.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein, during the dragging of the particular card among the graphical boxes of the grid interface, the graphical user interface is configured to display names of categorical groups respectively associated with the graphical boxes that the particular card is being slid across.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the releasing causes the graphical user interface to display a second set of cards representing information items associated with the third categorical group and the fourth categorical group, wherein the particular card is one of the second set of cards.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the client device is a mobile client device with a display screen that has a diagonal length of 13 inches or less.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the toggling comprises selecting and moving, by way of the graphical user interface, the particular card to an edge of the display screen.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the graphical boxes have a predefined size that is based on a size of the display screen such that a predefined number of the graphical boxes can fit on the display screen, and wherein a size of the particular card is adjusted to match the predefined size.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein, during display of the grid interface, a number of vertical lanes in the set of vertical lanes and a number of horizontal lanes in the set of horizontal lanes are each based on a size of the display screen.

20. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a client device and from a server device, data and program code that instructs the client device to generate and display a graphical user interface using the data, wherein the data represents a definition of a first plurality of categorical groups, a definition of a second plurality of categorical groups, and a plurality of information items, each associated with one of the first plurality of categorical groups and one of the second plurality of categorical groups;

generating and displaying, at the client device, the graphical user interface using the data, wherein the graphical user interface includes a set of cards representing information items associated with a first categorical group of the first plurality of categorical groups and a second categorical group of the second plurality of categorical groups;

receiving a toggling, by the client device, of a particular card of the set of cards, wherein the toggling causes the graphical user interface to automatically display a grid interface, wherein the grid interface contains a set of vertical lanes respectively associated with at least some of the first plurality first categorical groups and a set of horizontal lanes respectively associated with at least some of the second plurality of categorical groups, wherein intersections of vertical lanes and horizontal lanes define graphical boxes, wherein the particular card is initially located in a first graphical box of the graphical boxes;

receiving a drag command, by the client device, of the particular card, wherein the drag command causes the graphical user interface to slide the particular card among the graphical boxes of the grid interface; and

receiving a release command, by the client device, of the particular card, wherein the release command causes the graphical user interface to associate the information item represented by the particular card with a third categorical group of the first plurality of categorical groups or a fourth categorical group of the second plurality of categorical groups, wherein the particular card is released in a second graphical box of the graphical boxes that is defined by at least one of the third categorical group or the fourth categorical group.