Telling Interactive, Self-Directed Stories with Spreadsheets

• US 20140372850A1
• Filed: 06/15/2013
• Published: 12/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Campbell, John, Albert, Uhl, Otero, Carlos Augusto, Myerscough, Micah, Patterson, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 10,198,420 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

A spreadsheet storytelling engine is provided. The spreadsheet storytelling engine may run in the context of a spreadsheet application on any device, service, or general endpoint capable of running the spreadsheet application. The spreadsheet storytelling engine allows for the authoring and telling of a story. The story is a collection of operations that guide the consumer through a spreadsheet. The story allows the spreadsheet to be used to convey visualizations, data, calculations, or other objects in a spreadsheet in a way that may be simple, pleasant to look at, and/or visually engaging to help a consumer understand the information and internalize it in a way that is actionable without requiring the real time availability of the spreadsheet author. The spreadsheet storytelling engine is useful for purposes including, but not limited to, making presentations, creating tutorials, validating data, explaining how a model works, and generating interactive business intelligence dashboards.

Claims

1. A method for displaying a spreadsheet to convey information using a story comprising a collection of operations, the method comprising the acts of:

opening the spreadsheet and the story associated with the spreadsheet;

displaying a storytelling user interface comprising playback controls for controlling the playback of the story; and

performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story to convey information to a consumer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising hiding at least a portion of a user interface provided by the spreadsheet application during the act of performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising synchronizing the display of a single story for a plurality of consumers connected in a collaborative environment during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising facilitating communication between the plurality of consumers connected in a collaborative environment during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising facilitating communication between the consumer and a remote user between the plurality of consumers connected in a collaborative environment during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising displaying advertisements during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising communicating with a remote computer to determine if updates to the story are available during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising the acts of:

creating a view of at least a portion of a selected object from the spreadsheet; and

displaying the view during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

9. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

recording the communications between the plurality of consumers connected in a collaborative environment; and

storing the recorded communications with at least one of the story and the spreadsheet.

10. The method of claim 3 further comprising determining that an operation in the story is invalid due to modification of the spreadsheet by the consumer.

11. A system for creating a story to convey information in a spreadsheet, the system comprising a computing device having a processor and a memory in communication with the processor for executing a storytelling engine operable to:

record a collection of operations associated with the spreadsheet; and

storing the collection of operations as a story associated with the spreadsheet for later playback by a consumer.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to record annotations for display throughout the entire story.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to record annotations for display at specific points in the story.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to add a decision element requiring input from the consumer.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to:

record a first sequence of operations associated with the spreadsheet;

record a second sequence of operations associated with the spreadsheet;

link the first sequence of operations to a first value of the input to the decision element; and

link the second sequence of operations to a first value of the input to the decision element.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to disable modification of the story by the consumer.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to save the story separately from the spreadsheet.

18. A computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, perform a method for displaying a spreadsheet to convey information using a story comprising a collection of operations, the method comprising the acts of:

opening the spreadsheet;

loading the story into the spreadsheet;

initiating playback of a selected portion of the story; and

performing a sequence of operations corresponding to the selected portion of the story to convey information to a consumer.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises verifying the story is compatible with spreadsheet.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises locking the story and the spreadsheet from further modifications upon approval of the story and the spreadsheet.