User interface teaching concepts in an application

• US 20080244401A1
• Filed: 04/02/2007
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Bala, Aravind, Fries, Karen, Leonard, Peter F.
• Application Number:
  US11/732,051
• Publication Number:
  US 20080244401A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/708
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

Various embodiments provide a wizard integrated as part of an application to assist a user in operating within the application. In one or more embodiments, the wizard comprises an inline portion of the application'"'"'s user interface and is designed to enable a user to express a desired goal and then present one or more choices that appear to satisfy the user'"'"'s desired goal. The choices are titled in a manner that obscures or abstracts away more complex choices and concepts with which a user may not be familiar. When the user selects a particular displayed choice, the wizard can present further choices which are progressively narrowed to focus on the user'"'"'s desired goal, thus directing the user to a suitable feature to accomplish his or her goal and providing just-in-time conceptual information about the feature to enable the user to use that feature.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more computer-readable storage media;

an application embodied on the one or more computer-readable storage media;

a wizard embodied on the one or more computer-readable storage media, wherein the wizard provides an inline portion of a user interface associated with the application and is designed to enable a user to express a goal and then present one or more choices that appear to satisfy the user'"'"'s goal, wherein at least some of the choices are presented within a ribbon of the application'"'"'s user interface.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the wizard is configured to, responsive to a user selecting a choice, present one or more additional choices that are in the context of the goal expressed by the user.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the wizard is configured to, responsive to presenting one or more additional choices, present an information area that includes information that pertains to the one or more additional choices.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the inline portion does not comprise a separate window.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the inline portion does not fly in from a side of the user interface.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the wizard comprises a guided help mode that is configured to provide information that pertains to a choice the user has made, wherein the information comprises at least one of:

information that guides the user through steps that are to be accomplished in order to take a particular action, or

information that automatically accomplishes one or more tasks that are relevant to the choice that the user has made.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the guided help mode comprises a floating window.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the guided help mode is configured to perform manipulations via the user interface to illustrate to the user how a particular operation can be performed.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the wizard comprises a search text box in which the user can enter a term associated with the goal, and a results area adjacent the search text box in which individual results from a search can be displayed for the user.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the user interface comprises a work area beneath the search text box and results area in which a user can accomplish work tasks using the application.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the wizard is configured to provide additional information regarding a choice responsive to a user hovering a mouse over a presented choice.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said additional information comprises a tool tip.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more choices comprise multiple choices which are numerically ranked.

14. A computer-implemented method comprising:

displaying an application user interface, wherein the user interface has a ribbon and is defined within a resizable, closeable window;

receiving, within the resizable, closeable window, text input by a user pertaining to a goal the user wishes to accomplish using the application; and

displaying, within the resizable, closeable window, one or more choices that pertain to the user'"'"'s goal, wherein the act of displaying is performed by displaying the one or more choices in the ribbon of the user interface.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising displaying additional text that pertains to the one or more choices, wherein the additional text is displayed inline with the application user interface.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the act of displaying additional text is performed responsive to hovering a mouse over a particular choice.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the act of displaying additional text is performed by displaying a tool tip.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the act of displaying additional text is performed by displaying a guided help window.

19. One or more computer-readable storage media comprising computer-readable instructions which, when executed, are configured to provide an application user interface with an integrated, inline wizard which allows a user to type in a search term associated with a goal they would like to accomplish using the application and, responsively, have displayed multiple different selectable choices that pertain to their search term, wherein at least a portion of an inline wizard user interface is displayed within the application user interface, and wherein the inline wizard is configured to:

present additional information responsive to a mouse being hovered over a particular choice; and

provide a guided help mode which guides a user through steps that are to be accomplished in order to take a particular action.

20. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 19, wherein the multiple different selectable choices are displayed entirely within a ribbon of the application user interface.