METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AN IN-CONTEXT AUTO-ARRANGABLE USER INTERFACE

• US 20090150807A1
• Filed: 12/06/2007
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: George, David A., Jennings, Raymond B. III, Stys, Malgorzata E., Hitney, Raymond R.
• Application Number:
  US11/952,031
• Publication Number:
  US 20090150807A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/763
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A method for dynamically re-calculating and presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes interface icons based on user context, includes, for a current user, determining a change in user context associated with the GUI. The method then modifies one of a state, appearance and spatial placement of the user interface icons within the GUI automatically, in accordance with a determined change in user context. The step of determining a change in user context may further include analyzing a set of contextual attributes associated with the user. For that matter, the step of determining is preferably automatically triggered by at least one factor from a group of factors, the group of factors including a) a creation date of a data item associated with the current user, b) a modification date of a data item associated with the current user, c) a last-accessed date of a data item associated with the current user, d) a type of a data item associated with the current user, e) a location of a data item associated with the current user, f) a category of a data item'"'"'s content, the data item associated with the current user, g) a size of a data item, the data item associated with the current user, h) a source of a data item associated with the current user and i) a completeness of a data item associated with the current user.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a computer device for dynamically re-calculating and presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) comprised of interface icons, an interface icon representing a data item, the recalculating and presenting based on user context, the method comprising the steps of:

for a current user, automatically determining a change in user context associated with the GUI, said determining a change in current user context being automatically triggered by at least one factor from a group of factors comprising;

a) a type of a data item associated with the current user, b) a location of a data item associated with the current user, c) a size of a data item, the data item associated with the current user, d) a source of a data item associated with the current user and, e) a completeness of a data item associated with the current user, said at least one trigger factor provided as one or more of;

     1) a user-specifiable policy declaration associated with one or more of said factors;

     2) a learned association of the data item for the current user with tat user'"'"'s habitual activity, or

     3) the current user with a current activity; and

modifying one of a state, appearance and spatial placement of user interface icons within the GUI to be re-calculated and presented, automatically in accordance with the determined change in user context associated with the GUI, said modifying including;

determining an appearance of a user interface icon in the context of the present GUI, and, altering an appearance of the user interface icon by altering visible factors, including one or more of;

the user interface icon'"'"'s visibility, brightness, size, decoration, and a time gradient of said icon'"'"'s brightness, size and decoration in order to render said appearance of interface icon more prominent in the user'"'"'s GUI view.

2. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising:

a tangible storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method set forth in claim 1.