MENU USAGE STATISTICS COLLECTION AND REPORTING

• US 20130311883A1
• Filed: 05/17/2012
• Published: 11/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: McCoy, Charles, Pedlow, Leo Mark Jr., Wong, Ling Jun, Xiong, True
• Granted Patent: US 9,600,390 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/703
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3438 monitoring of user actions tracking the activity of the user H04L67/535
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5866 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• 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: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00453 arranged in a two dimensional array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42228 the reprogrammable keys being displayed on a display screen in order to reduce the number of keys on the remote control device itself
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 : involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 : End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 : End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 : End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 : using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 : Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73

Abstract

Customizing menus for a consumer electronics device, including: preparing menu definitions for the menus to be customized on the consumer electronics device; generating menu configuration information using the prepared menu definitions; transmitting the generated menu configuration information to the consumer electronics device; and monitoring and tracking menu usage data of the consumer electronics device. Keywords include customization of menus and consumer electronics device.

Claims

1. A method of customizing menus for a consumer electronics device, the method comprising:

preparing menu definitions for the menus to be customized on the consumer electronics device;

generating menu configuration information using the prepared menu definitions;

transmitting the generated menu configuration information to the consumer electronics device; and

monitoring and tracking menu usage data of the consumer electronics device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising

analyzing the menu usage data to improve a design of the menus on the consumer electronics device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein analyzing the menu usage data indicates that customers have a hard time finding a particular menu item, and that users first look for the particular menu item in a different place.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the menu usage data comprise a displayed language of the menus when the menus are used.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein analyzing the menu usage data comprises

breaking down the analysis by the displayed language to improve a particular translation if a menu item is less used or harder to find when the menus are displayed in a particular language.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the improvement comprises

moving popular menu items to places that allow quicker access,

wherein the places include locations that need to scroll through fewer menu items or that need to navigate through fewer menu levels.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the analyzed menu usage data include a frequency of menu usage.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein popular menu items are positioned in locations in the menus that are easiest to access.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the menu usage data is calculated using data collected from the consumer electronics device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the collected data include day and time of the menu usage.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the collected data include a series of menu item clicks or selections to determine a sequence of activity or path.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the collected data include a type of application launched.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the collected data include duration between two menu selections.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the collected data include frequency of language changes.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the collected data include button presses on a remote control.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising

directing the consumer electronics device to send the menu usage data at a pre-defined interval.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising

triggering the consumer electronics device to send the menu usage data once a certain quantity of data has been collected by the consumer electronics device.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising

specifying to the consumer electronics device a type of the menu usage data to collect and send.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising

enabling the consumer electronics device to send the menu usage data along with the menu customization request.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising

enabling the consumer electronics device to send the menu usage data when it is triggered to send the menu usage data.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising

receiving a menu customization request from the consumer electronics device,

wherein the menu customization request includes device specific information to identify the consumer electronics device.

22. A non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program to customize menus for a consumer electronics device, the computer program comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:

prepare menu definitions for the menus to be customized on the consumer electronics device;

generate menu configuration information using the prepared menu definitions;

transmit the generated menu configuration information to the consumer electronics device; and

monitoring and tracking menu usage data of the consumer electronics device.

23. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 22, executable instructions that cause a computer to

analyze the menu usage data to improve a design of the menus on the consumer electronics device.

24. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 23, wherein the analyzed menu usage data include frequency of menu usage.

25. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 23, wherein the analyzed menu usage data include day and time of the menu usage.

26. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 23, wherein the analyzed menu usage data include a series of menu item clicks or selections to determine a sequence of activity or path.

27. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 23, wherein the analyzed menu usage data include a type of application launched.

28. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 23, wherein the analyzed menu usage data include duration between two menu selections.