Scope user interface for displaying the priorities and properties of multiple informational items

• US 20020054117A1
• Filed: 06/15/2001
• Published: 05/09/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Horvitz, Eric J., Robbins, Daniel C., van Dantzich, Maarten R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,701,027 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/766
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and methodology to provide a glancable, interactive user interface associated with one or more prioritized informational items or notifications. Such items can be received from external sources and/or from a notification system, wherein priorities can be assigned by the sources and/or automatically determined by a computer-based prioritization system. The notifications are then arranged and/or located in a graphical display according to the assigned priorities, thus enabling a user to quickly glance at the display and determine how many items are pending, where items have originated from, and what urgency level is associated with respective items. Various shapes, locations, colors, and sounds are utilized in a variety of ergonomic configurations, some controlled by the invocation of a variety of filters and informational lenses to enable users to easily manage a plurality of information sources.

Claims

1. A notification system, comprising:

one or more prioritized notifications; and

an object that provides an interface corresponding to a priority level of a subset of the prioritized notifications.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface renders at least one of a visual, audio, and physical indication of the one or more prioritized notifications.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a priorities system that prioritizes the notifications.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the interface provides feedback to adjust at least one of the priorities system and the notification system.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the feedback relates to implicit user actions that indicate the user'"'"'s preference to the one or more prioritized notifications.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the implicit user actions include at least one of response timing, reading, deleting, and ignoring the one or more prioritized notifications.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the feedback relates to explicit user actions that include a reassignment of priority by the user.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more prioritized notifications are categorized to at least one of a source and a domain, the source including the modality of the notification, the domain including a category associated with the user.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a display configured according to at least one of the source and the domain.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising an input to enable switching the display between the source and the domain.

11. The system of claim 9, further comprising one or more display objects that are associated with the one or more prioritized notifications.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more display objects are located on the display according to the priority of the one or more prioritized notifications.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more display objects are rendered in proximity to one or more other display objects to provide meaning according to the proximity of the rendered display objects.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the shape and the color of the one or more display objects are indications of at least one of the source, the domain, and the priority of the one or more prioritized notifications.

15. The system of claim 11, further comprising clustering rules for displaying N number of display objects in a constrained space, N being an integer, the clustering rules including at least one of rendering as many display objects that can fit in the display, defining meta display objects, and utilizing a third display dimension to display topological densities.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising mapping rules for associating the one or more prioritized notifications to the display.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the display provides an indication of change over time associated with the one or more prioritized notifications.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the display objects are rendered as at least one of brighter, darker, decaying, changing color and becoming more or less transparent to indicate change.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising at least one of a fast forward and a replay selection to provide the indication of changes over time.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the display objects are selected to provide at least one of a summary, an enlargement and a drill down of the one or more notifications.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising semantic zooming to enable users to receive various levels of information regarding the one or more prioritized notifications.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the display objects are at least one of a circle, a square, a triangle, a rectangle, a wedge, a sphere, a cube, a cylinder, and a cone.

23. The system of claim 11, wherein the display is rendered into one or more sectors associated with at least one of the source and the domain.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the sectors collectively form at least one of a circle, a square, a triangle, a rectangle, a wedge, a sphere, a cube, a cylinder, and a cone.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the sectors are subdivided according to the priority of the one or more prioritized notifications.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein at least one of the sectors and the collective form are resizable to provide more or less information regarding the one or more prioritized notifications.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein vectors graphics are utilized to provide resize-ability to the sectors and the collective form.

28. The system of claim 24, further comprising one or more selections to at least one of close the display, alter priorities, switch the display to another dimension, switch between a domain and source, and switch between transparent and non-transparent display modes.

29. The system of claim 23, wherein the one or more sectors are selectable to at least one of provide feedback and alter the priority level of the subset of the one or more prioritized notifications.

30. The system of claim 11, wherein the display changes based upon an interaction level of the user.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the interaction level is determined from the context of the user via the notification system.

32. The system of claim 11, wherein the display further comprises at least one of a crystal ball view, a radar view, a horizon view, and a funnel view associated with the one or more prioritized notifications.

33. The system of claim 11, wherein audio is rendered as at least one of a representation of the one or more prioritized notifications and as interactive feedback when one or more of the display objects are selected.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising, providing at least one of an update and an overview over time in relation to at least one of a source and a domain according to at least one of the notification and the priority.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising switching between the source and the domain.

37. The method of claim 34, farther comprising rendering at least one of a visual, audio, and physical indication of at least one of the notification and the priority.

38. The method of claim 34, further comprising providing feedback to adjust at least one of the notification and the priority.

39. The method of claim 34, further comprising locating the one or more objects on a device according to at least one of the notification and the priority.

40. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing meaning according to the proximity of the one or more objects within a given segment.

41. The method of claim 34, further comprising at least one of the following rules:

fitting the amount of the one or more objects in a display;

defining meta display items; and

utilizing a third display dimension to display the one or more objects.

42. The method of claim 34, further comprising providing at least one of a summary, an enlargement and a drill down of the one or more objects.

43. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the acts of claim 34.

34. A method to interface with a notification system, comprising,

mapping at least one of a notification and a priority to one or more objects;

rendering the one or more objects based upon at least one of the notification and the priority; and

providing inputs to interact with the notification system.

44. A graphical user interface, comprising,

means for routing at least one prioritized notification;

means for rendering the at least one prioritized notification to a display; and

means for interacting with the at least one prioritized notification.

45. The interface of claim 44, further comprising means for updating the display in relation to at least one of a source and a domain according to the at least one prioritized notification.

46. A scope user interface, comprising:

a plurality of prioritized notifications;

at least one display sector associated with at least one of a source and a domain; and

at least one display object mapped to at least one of the plurality of prioritized notifications and a portion of the display sector.