Computer interface for illiterate and near-illiterate users

• US 7,603,621 B2
• Filed: 01/25/2006
• Issued: 10/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sagar, Aman, Medhi, Indrani, Toyama, Kentaro
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Kieu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Riegler; Patrick F
• Application Number:
  US11/340,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20080040693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: 715/707, 715/865, 715/963, 705/9, 705/10, 705/14
• US Class Current: 715/707
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/963 Calendar or scheduling

Abstract

An interface is presented that can be used by those with little or no computer skills and little or no reading skills. In an exemplary embodiment, the icon pictures are detailed enough that they do not need text to be understood. Most icons do not require that they be clicked to be selected, rather they select on cursor hover. When an icon is hovered over, in an exemplary embodiment, it increases in size to make it easier for a user to select it. The interface has a help function that provides a voice that tells the function of an icon when the icon is moused over or otherwise tentatively chosen by a user. The help function voice may be accompanied by a virtual companion—a picture of a person, who, in some embodiments, is animated and appears to be speaking the help text.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon computer-executable instructions for performing a computer-implemented method of displaying a computer-generated graphical user interface for locating jobs by users with limited reading skills, the method comprising:

presenting, by a computer, a basic job information screen displaying job information for a particular geographical area selected by a prospective employee user, wherein the basic job information screen displaying job information comprises basic information for a plurality of jobs, wherein the basic information comprises clock icons indicating starting times for respective of the plurality of jobs and icons representing action activities of the respective jobs, and wherein a given job out of the plurality of jobs is selectable by the prospective employee user; and

presenting, by the computer, a detailed job information screen displayed responsive to selection of the given job, wherein the detailed job information screen comprises;

a clock icon indicating a starting time for the given job;

a clock icon indicating an ending time for the given job;

pictures of currency indicating payment for performing the given job; and

icons indicating action activities for respective individual portions of the given job.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the graphical user interface comprises:

a plurality of controls operable to be displayed on one or more of a plurality of pages, wherein each control is represented by an icon comprising an image, and each control has a related control help message, each control operationally able to respond with the control help message upon activation, wherein the control help message is an audio message or a video message that activates on mouse over.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface comprises:

a page help feature, wherein the page help feature appears at a location on a page and at a same location on a plurality of other pages, wherein the graphical user interface is associated with an application, and wherein the page help feature is configured to explain at least one selected from the group consisting of;

purpose of the application, purpose of the page the page help feature is on, use of an input device associated with the application, interaction with the computer, and function of at least some controls displayed on the page.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the page help feature explains via an explanation comprising at least one of recorded audio, synthesized audio, recorded video, or animation.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the graphical user interface comprises:

a virtual character, the virtual character representing the page help feature.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the page help feature shows how users can navigate through the graphical user interface.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the graphical user interface comprises:

at least two language controls, each language control associated with a different human language, the page help feature having a help language, the language controls operationally able to set the help language to the human language associated with the language control when one of the language controls is selected by the prospective employee user.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface comprises:

an incremental text displayer, operationally able to allow levels of text to be displayed when a predefined criterion is met.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

on the detailed job information screen, displaying an icon of representing an address of an employer for the given job; and

responsive to selection of the icon representing the address of the employer for the given job, playing a voice of the address of the employer.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein:

at least one of the clock icons indicates morning via a displayed sun; and

at least one of the clock icons indicates evening via a displayed moon.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:

on the detailed job information screen, displaying an arrow that indicates a direction to be read for the clock icon indicating the starting time and the clock icon indicating the ending time.

9. A computer-implemented method of providing a graphical user map interface, the interface comprising a plurality of textless pages, the textless pages comprising a plurality of controls, a help control on each of the plurality of textless pages, the help control substantially at a same location on the textless pages and having no text associated with it, comprising:

receiving input that a first control on a first page has been selected, the first control having a function, a graphical representation of the first control comprising a picture which represents the function and which has no text associated with it;

receiving input that the first control on the first page has been help selected; and

, in response, playing a message about the first control, the message comprising a voice message or an audio message;

wherein help selection comprises hovering an input device over the first control for a predefined period of time;

receiving input that a search criterion selection icon has been selected, and in response, performing a search associated with the search criterion selection icon, wherein the search criterion comprises jobs located in an indicated geographical area selected by a prospective employee user; and

displaying ordered results returned from the search on a basic job information screen displaying job information for the indicated geographical area selected by the prospective employee user, wherein the basic job information screen displaying job information comprises basic information for a plurality of jobs, wherein the basic information comprises clock icons indicating starting times for respective of the plurality of jobs and icons representing action activities of the respective jobs, and wherein a given job out of the plurality of jobs is selectable by the prospective employee user;

a detailed job information screen displayed responsive to selection of the given job, wherein the detailed job information screen comprises;

a clock icon indicating a starting time for the liven job;

a clock icon indicating an ending time for the liven job;

pictures of currency indicating payment for performing the given job; and

icons indicating action activities for respective individual portions of the given job.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the interface further comprises a rotational control, wherein the rotational control comprises at least one rotational arrow, the rotational arrow associated with a rotation direction, and wherein the method further comprises rotating a map in the rotation direction associated with the rotational arrow when input is received that the rotational arrow has been selected.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the interface comprises at least one control allowing a user to select one of at least two languages with different ordering conventions, and wherein the ordered results are ordered using directional conventions of the selected language.

12. A tangible computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer system to perform the method of claim 9.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising ordering the results returned from the search by distance, and highlighting a search result closest to the prospective employee user.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving input that a second search criterion selection icon has been selected, and in response, performing a search according to the search criterion selection icon and the second search criterion selection icon.

18. A computer programmed with computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

presenting a map divided into a plurality of shapes representing respective geographical areas within a target location;

responsive to selection of a given geographical area on the map by a user, presenting a basic job information screen displaying job information for the given geographical area selected by the user, wherein the basic job information screen displays job information comprising basic information for a plurality of jobs, wherein the basic information comprises clock icons indicating starting times for respective of the plurality of jobs and icons representing action activities of the respective jobs, and wherein a given job out of the plurality of jobs is selectable by the user;

a detailed job information screen displayed responsive to selection of the given job, wherein the detailed job information screen comprises (a)-(e);

(a) a clock icon indicating a starting time for the given job;

(b) a clock icon indicating an ending time for the given job;

(c) pictures of currency indicating payment for performing the given job;

(d) icons indicating action activities for respective individual portions of the given job; and

(e) icons indicating rooms in a house in which respective of the action activities are to be performed as part of the given job.