User interface and method for object management

• US 8,522,165 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2010
• Issued: 08/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Cameron, Stefan, Di Nardo, Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): LONG, ANDREA NATAE
• Application Number:
  US12/818,775
• Publication Number:
  US 20110314422A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,166 Days
• Field of Search: 715/835, 715/802, 715/811
• US Class Current: 715/835
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence

Abstract

A computing device includes a processor executing instructions to provide a graphical user interface displayed on a display device and for facilitating navigation through a collection of files stored in a storage device, the user interface including a primary icon displayed on the display device and representing a selected file, a temporal axis defined across at least a portion of the primary icon, and one or more secondary icons displayed on the display device, each representing a respective additional file, the secondary icons being positioned separate from the primary icon, wherein the secondary icons are arranged along the temporal axis in temporal order of each additional file represented by the secondary icons.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting, by a processor, at least one creation icon in a graphical interface, the at least one creation icon associated with creating a new object for at least one application associated with the graphical interface;

responsive to receiving a first input to the at least one creation icon, generating, by the processor, a first object in a first application;

generating, by the processor, a first icon representing the first object, wherein the first icon is associated with at least one function of the first application;

responsive to receiving a second input to the at least one creation icon, generating, by the processor, a second object in a second application, wherein the second application includes different functionality than the first application;

generating, by the processor, a second icon representing the second object, wherein the second icon is associated with at least one function of the second application; and

presenting, by the processor, the at least one creation icon, the first icon, and the second icon in a sequential order along a sequential axis in the graphical interface, wherein the first icon and the second icon are presented based on the first object and the second object being generated responsive to the first input and the second input to the at least one creation icon.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the at least one creation icon, the first icon, and the second icon in the sequential order comprises presenting the first icon and the second icon in a temporal order.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein presenting the at least one creation icon, the first icon, and the second icon in the temporal order comprises at least one of:

generating the temporal order based on a respective date when respective content from each of the first object and the second object were last rendered for display;

or

generating the temporal order based on a respective date on which at least one of the first object and the second object was deleted.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying one of the first icon and the second icon as a primary icon in response to receiving input to the graphical interface selecting the one of the first icon and the second icon;

identifying another of the first icon and the second icon as a secondary icon based on the other of the first icon and the second icon being identified as the primary icon; and

modifying the primary icon to include temporal information describing the one of the first object and the second object that is associated with the primary icon.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the at least one creation icon, the first icon, and the second icon in the sequential order comprises:

identifying a display language associated with the graphical interface;

generating the temporal order based at least partially on the display language.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the at least one creation icon, the first icon, and the second icon in the sequential order comprises at least one of:

generating the sequential order based on a respective file name for each of the first object and the second object;

generating the sequential order based on a respective file size for each of the first object and the second object;

or

generating the sequential order based on a respective number of content items in each of the first object and the second object.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying one of the first icon and the second icon as a primary icon in response to receiving input to the graphical interface selecting the one of the first icon and the second icon;

identifying another of the first icon and the second icon as a secondary icon based on the other of the first icon and the second icon being identified as the primary icon; and

modifying the primary icon to include at least some content of the one of the first object and the second object that is represented by the primary icon.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying one of the first icon and the second icon as a primary icon in response to receiving input to the graphical interface selecting the one of the first icon and the second icon;

identifying one of the first icon and the second icon as a secondary icon based on the other of the first icon and the second icon being identified as the primary icon; and

generating a visual indicator in the graphical interface identifying the primary icon by performing at least one of modifying a color of the primary icon or rendering the primary icon with a three-dimensional effect.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying one of the first icon and the second icon as a primary icon in response to receiving input to the graphical interface selecting the one of the first icon and the second icon;

identifying one of the first icon and the second icon as a secondary icon based on the other of the first icon and the second icon being identified as the primary icon; and

generating a visual indicator in the graphical interface identifying the primary icon by rendering the primary icon with a three-dimensional effect.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising positioning the at least one creation icon to be at an edge of the graphical interface.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the first icon is performed subsequent to closing the first application and generating the second icon is performed subsequent to closing the second application.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one creation icon comprises a first creation icon associated with the first application and a second creation icon associated with the second application, wherein the first input is received to the first creation icon and the second input is received to the second creation icon.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, prior to presenting the at least one creation icon, that the graphical interface is being accessed via an account authorized to create new objects via at least one of the first application or the second application.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying program code executable by a processing device, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

program code for presenting at least one creation icon in a graphical interface, the at least one creation icon associated with creating a new object for at least one application associated with the graphical interface;

program code for generating a first object in a first application responsive to receiving a first input to the at least one creation icon;

program code for generating a first icon representing the first object, wherein the first icon is associated with at least one function of the first application;

program code for generating a second object in a second application responsive to receiving a second input to the at least one creation icon, wherein the second application includes different functionality than the first application;

program code for generating a second icon representing the second object, wherein the second icon is associated with at least one function of the second application; and

program code for presenting the at least one creation icon, the first icon, and the second icon in a sequential order along a sequential axis in the graphical interface, wherein the first icon and the second icon are presented based on the first object and the second object being generated responsive to the first input and the second input to the at least one creation icon.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein presenting the at least one creation icon, the first icon, and the second icon in the sequential order comprises presenting the first icon and the second icon in a temporal order.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,

program code for identifying one of the first icon and the second icon as a primary icon in response to receiving input to the graphical interface selecting the one of the first icon and the second icon;

program code for identifying another of the first icon and the second icon as a secondary icon based on the other of the first icon and the second icon being identified as the primary icon; and

program code for modifying the primary icon to include temporal information describing the one of the first object and the second object that is associated with the primary icon.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein presenting the at least one creation icon, the first icon, and the second icon in the sequential order comprises at least one of:

generating the sequential order based on a respective file name for each of the first object and the second object;

generating the sequential order based on a respective file size for each of the first object and the second object;

or

generating the sequential order based on a respective number of content items in each of the first object and the second object.

18. A method comprising:

presenting, by a processor, a first creation icon and a second creation icon in a graphical interface, wherein the first creation icon is associated with creating new objects for a first application associated with the graphical interface and the second creation icon is associated with creating new objects for a second application associated with the graphical interface;

generating, by the processor, a first plurality of objects in the first application in response to receiving a first plurality of inputs to the first creation icon;

generating, by the processor, a second plurality of objects in the second application in response to receiving a second plurality of inputs to the second creation icon; and

presenting, by the processor, the first creation icon grouped with a first plurality of icons representing the first plurality of objects in a first sequential order and the second creation icon grouped with the second plurality of icons representing the second plurality of objects in a second sequential order, wherein each of the first plurality of icons and each of the second plurality of icons are positioned along a common sequential axis, wherein the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons are presented based on the first plurality of objects being generated responsive to the first plurality of inputs to the first creation icon and the second plurality of objects being generated responsive to the second plurality of inputs to the second creation icon.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first creation icon is positioned along a first additional axis intersecting to the common sequential axis and the second creation icon is positioned along a second additional axis intersecting the common sequential axis.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein at least some icons of the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons represent objects stored in different directories than at least some other icons of the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein presenting the first plurality of icons in the first sequential order and presenting the second plurality of objects in the second sequential order comprises presenting the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons in a temporal order.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein presenting the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons in the temporal order comprises at least one of:

generating the temporal order based on a respective date when respective content from each of the first plurality of objects and the second plurality of objects were last rendered for display;

or

generating the temporal order based on a respective date on which at least one of the first plurality of objects or the second plurality of objects was deleted.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein presenting the first plurality of icons in the first sequential order and presenting the second plurality of objects in the second sequential order comprises at least one of:

generating the first sequential order based on a respective file name for each of the first plurality of objects and generating the second sequential order based on a respective file name for each of the second plurality of objects;

generating the first sequential order based on a respective file size for each of the first plurality of objects and generating the second sequential order based on a respective file size for each of the second plurality of objects;

or

generating the first sequential order based on a respective number of content items in each of the first plurality of objects and generating the second sequential order based on a respective number of content items in each of the second plurality of objects.

24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying program code executable by a processing device, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

program code for presenting a first creation icon and a second creation icon in a graphical interface, wherein the first creation icon is associated with creating new objects for a first application associated with the graphical interface and the second creation icon is associated with creating new objects for a second application associated with the graphical interface;

program code for generating a first plurality of objects in the first application in response to receiving a first plurality of inputs to the first creation icon;

program code for generating a second plurality of objects in the second application in response to receiving a second plurality of inputs to the second creation icon; and

program code for presenting the first creation icon grouped with a first plurality of icons representing the first plurality of objects in a first sequential order and the second creation icon grouped with the second plurality of icons representing the second plurality of objects in a second sequential order, wherein each of the first plurality of icons and each of the second plurality of icons are positioned along a common sequential axis, wherein the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons are presented based on the first plurality of objects being generated responsive to the first plurality of inputs to the first creation icon and the second plurality of objects being generated responsive to the second plurality of inputs to the second creation icon.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the first creation icon is positioned along a first additional axis intersecting to the common sequential axis and the second creation icon is positioned along a second additional axis intersecting the common sequential axis.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein at least some icons of the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons represent objects stored in different directories than at least some other icons of the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein presenting the first plurality of icons in the first sequential order and presenting the second plurality of objects in the second sequential order comprises presenting the first plurality of icons and the second plurality of icons in a temporal order.