ELECTRONIC INFORMATION HIERARCHY

• US 20130238994A1
• Filed: 03/12/2012
• Published: 09/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Yurasits, Bryan
• Granted Patent: US 11,847,300 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/716
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure relate to systems and methods for providing and displaying a hierarchy of selectable data items.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

displaying a first layer of an expandable hierarchy of data as a single column along a first vertical axis, the single column comprising a plurality of media items along a first vertical axis, wherein each media item is associated with a plurality of media offerings for that media item; and

responsive to a first user input selecting one of the media items, expanding the first layer and displaying a second layer of the expandable hierarchy of data comprising at least a portion of the media offerings associated with the selected media item, wherein the displayed media offerings of the second layer are displayed along the same first vertical axis and the first layer and the second layer collectively form a single vertically accessible item.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, the instructions further comprising:

responsive to a second user input selecting one of the displayed media offerings of the second layer, displaying descriptive content of the selected media offering along the same first vertical axis on a third layer, wherein a single unitary accessible item is formed from the first, second and third layers.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the instructions further comprise:

in addition to displaying descriptive content of the selected media offering responsive to the second user input, displaying a selectable action for initiating playback of the selected media.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the single column of the first layer comprises a substantially uniform horizontal width between two vertical boundaries that are parallel with the first vertical axis;

and

wherein the portion of the media offerings displayed on the second layer in response to the first user input form a column with a single row having the same horizontal width as the single column of the first column.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the descriptive content of the third layer displayed responsive to the second user input comprises a top boundary and a bottom boundary separated by a vertical distance that is equal to or less than a vertical distance of the channel listing that was selected by the first user input.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, the instructions further comprising:

in response to receiving a third user input, displaying a predefined quantity of media offerings to be displayed on the second layer.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the third user input is received prior to the first user input.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the indication provided in the third user input is specific to a single item.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, the instructions further comprising:

receiving a fourth user input comprising an identification of descriptive content to be displayed in response to the reception of the second user input.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, the instructions further comprising:

responsive to a second user input selecting one of the displayed media offerings of the second layer, displaying descriptive content of the selected media offering along the same first vertical axis on a third layer, wherein the second layer and the third layer collectively form a single vertically accessible item.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further comprise:

in addition to displaying descriptive content of the selected media offering responsive to the second user input, displaying a selectable action for initiating playback of the selected media.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the single column of the first layer comprises a substantially uniform horizontal width between two vertical boundaries that are parallel with the first vertical axis;

and

wherein the portion of the media offerings displayed on the second layer in response to the first user input form a column with a single row having the same horizontal width as the single column of the first column.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the descriptive content of the third layer displayed responsive to the second user input comprises a top boundary and a bottom boundary separated by a vertical distance that is equal to or less than a vertical distance of the item that was selected by the first user input.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, the instructions further comprising:

in response to receiving a third user input, displaying a predefined quantity of media offerings to be displayed on the second layer.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the third user input is received prior to the first user input.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the indication provided in the third user input is specific to a single item.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

displaying a first layer of an expandable hierarchy of data as a single column along a first vertical axis, the single column comprising a single row having a plurality of media items along a first vertical axis, wherein each media item is associated with a plurality of media offerings for that media item; and

responsive to a first user input selecting one of the media items, expanding the first layer and displaying a second layer of the expandable hierarchy of data comprising at least a portion of the media offerings associated with the selected media item, wherein the displayed media offerings of the second layer are displayed along the same first vertical axis and the first layer and the second layer collectively form a single vertically accessible item.

18. Computer display method comprising:

displaying multi-level information substantially along one axis by separating level one information and inserting level two information between the level one information.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising:

displaying the level one information substantially along the axis along with level two information and level three information by separating the level two information along the axis and inserting the level three information.

20. The method of claim 19, including displaying information responsive to filters associated with a device displaying the information.