MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DYNAMIC VISUAL BROWSING

• US 20090150791A1
• Filed: 12/05/2007
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Garcia, Edward O'Neil
• Granted Patent: US 8,549,407 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to present a first plurality of visible images indicating a corresponding group of visible element navigation pathways associated with a first level of an online marketplace, receive a selection of one of the first plurality of visual images to provide a selected image, and navigate to a second level of the online marketplace along the visible element navigation pathways by presenting a second plurality of visible images representing one of a super-category including the selected image and a sub-category included in the selected image, wherein the first and second levels form part of at least three levels of visual navigation. Selections may be saved for future manipulation, review, and navigation as a collection of thumbtacked images. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

presenting a first plurality of visible images indicating a corresponding group of visible element navigation pathways associated with a first level of an online marketplace;

receiving a selection of one of the first plurality of visual images to provide a selected image; and

navigating to a second level of the online marketplace along the visible element navigation pathways by presenting a second plurality of visible images representing one of a super-category including the selected image and a sub-category included in the selected image, wherein the first and second levels form part of at least three levels of visual navigation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first plurality of visual images and the second plurality of visual images are presented in an order weighted according to at least one presentation factor.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a type of the at least one presentation factor is taken from an element included in at least one of item categories, item attributes, and item tags associated with one of a determined user preference and an expressed user preference.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein a type of the at least one presentation factor is taken from an element included in at least one of user profile elements, user activity history, activity history of others, user interaction history, interaction history of others, and community interaction history.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising:

changing a type of the at least one presentation factor according to a location along the visible navigation pathways.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining a presentation factor to be associated with visual presentation order weighting from a series of stored selections including the selection.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising:

presenting the selected image as at least one of an item, a user, and a neighborhood forming a portion of the online marketplace.

8. A method, comprising:

receiving a selection of one of a first plurality of visual images to provide a selected image, wherein the first plurality of images indicate a corresponding group of visible element navigation pathways associated with a first level of an online marketplace;

navigating to a second level of the online marketplace along the visible element navigation pathways by presenting a second plurality of visible images representing a sub-category included in the selected image, wherein the first and second levels form part of at least three levels of visual navigation; and

storing a series of images forming a portion of the visible element navigation pathways as individual ones of the series are selected, wherein the individual ones correspond to items, users, and communities forming part of the online marketplace.

9. The method of claim 8, comprising:

presenting the series of images as a collection of images;

receiving a selection of one of the collection to provide a single image; and

navigating to a location on the visible navigation pathways corresponding to the single image by presenting detailed descriptive information about the single image.

10. The method of claim 8, comprising:

presenting abbreviated descriptive information regarding at least one of the second plurality of visible images in response to a mouse over action selecting the at least one of the second plurality.

11. The method of claim 8, comprising:

presenting at least one of the first plurality of visual images and the second plurality of visual images in an order weighted according to at least one presentation factor.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein each one of the group of navigation pathways leads to at least one of items, users, and neighborhood communities forming a portion of the online marketplace.

13. The method of claim 11, comprising:

changing a value of the at least one presentation factor according to the location along the visible navigation pathways.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a browser module to navigate along a plurality of visible element navigations pathways forming a portion of an online marketplace;

a display to present a first plurality of visible images indicating a corresponding group of the plurality of visible element navigation pathways associated with a first level of the online marketplace;

a user input device to receive a selection of one of the first plurality of visual images to provide a selected image; and

a processor to navigate to a second level of the online marketplace along the visible element navigation pathways by presenting, on the display, a second plurality of visible images representing one of a super-category including the selected image and a sub-category included in the selected image, wherein the first and second levels form part of at least three levels of visual navigation.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the user input device comprises:

at least one of a mouse, a touch screen, a keyboard, and a voice recognizer.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, comprising:

a graphical user interface to couple to the browser module and to arrange a presentation of the first plurality of visible images and the second plurality of visible images, and wherein at least one member from the first plurality of visible images is displayed on the display at the same time as the second plurality of visible images.

17. A system, comprising:

a browser module to navigate along a plurality of visible element navigations pathways forming a portion of an online marketplace;

a client computer including a display to present a first plurality of visible images indicating a corresponding group of the plurality of visible element navigation pathways associated with a first level of the online marketplace;

a user input device to receive a selection of one of the first plurality of visual images to provide a selected image;

a server to store at least one of the first plurality of visible images and the second plurality of visible images; and

a processor to navigate to a second level of the online marketplace along the visible element navigation pathways by presenting, on the display, a second plurality of visible images representing one of a super-category including the selected image and a sub-category included in the selected image, wherein the first and second levels form part of at least three levels of visual navigation.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the browser module is divided between the client computer and the server.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the server comprises a plurality of computers coupled to a global computer network.

20. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, perform the following operations:

presenting a first plurality of visible images indicating a corresponding plurality of visible element navigation pathways associated with a first level of an online marketplace;

receiving a selection of one of the first plurality of visual images to provide a selected image; and

navigating to a second level of the online marketplace along the visible element navigation pathways by presenting a second plurality of visible images representing one of a super-category including the selected image and a sub-category included in the selected image, wherein the first and second levels form part of at least three levels of visual navigation.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, perform the following operations:

receiving a presentation factor to weight an order of presentation of at least one of the first plurality of visual images and the second plurality of visual images.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, perform the following operations:

presenting a visual slider mechanism having a plurality of positions to indicate a selected relevance level associated with at least one of the visible element navigation pathways or the second plurality of visible images.

23. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, perform the following operations:

receiving a user selection of one of the second plurality of visible images; and

saving the user selection as part of a collection of user selections.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, perform the following operations:

asynchronously querying ahead of the selection along the visible element navigation pathways.

25. The machine-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, perform the following operations:

receiving a user selection of one item included in the collection of user selections; and

navigating to a location on the visible navigation pathways corresponding to the user selection by presenting detailed descriptive information about the user selection.