Interactive application assistance, such as for web applications
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for providing application assistance information in a task pane, the method comprising:
- receiving a request to display in a task pane application assistance information related to a task that a user can perform through an application page, wherein the task comprises a plurality of steps, the request received after the user has performed at least one of the plurality of steps in the task, and wherein the user has not received assistance information related to the task for a prior step in the plurality of steps in the task;
determining a user progress context that indicates a user'"'"'s current progress in the plurality of steps in performing the task, by monitoring the user'"'"'s interaction with the task and wherein determining further comprises identifying data related to the task that the user has entered into the application page;
retrieving from a help information data store help information applicable to the determined user progress context;
displaying the task pane near the application page, wherein the task pane includes at least part of the retrieved help information related to the determined user progress context and at least a portion of the data that the user has entered into the application; and
highlighting one or more regions of the application page related to the determined user progress context and retrieved help information to increase user focus on the regions,wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An application assistance system is described herein that provides an on-demand canonical user interface that can quickly allow a user to learn the actions exposed by an application, such as a web site. The application assistance system is a pattern and method for guiding the user of a site/application through a set of possible actions on a page by providing a well-known invocation of hints. These hints show the actions/tasks that a user can take on a page by visually spotlighting a specific area of the page and providing a tooltip or pop-up dialog that describes the action/task the user is trying to complete while preserving the data the user has already entered. The system also provides a task pane that supports randomly accessing various steps of a task the system is explaining. Thus, the system makes it much easier for a user to learn to use an application.
29 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for providing application assistance information in a task pane, the method comprising:
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receiving a request to display in a task pane application assistance information related to a task that a user can perform through an application page, wherein the task comprises a plurality of steps, the request received after the user has performed at least one of the plurality of steps in the task, and wherein the user has not received assistance information related to the task for a prior step in the plurality of steps in the task; determining a user progress context that indicates a user'"'"'s current progress in the plurality of steps in performing the task, by monitoring the user'"'"'s interaction with the task and wherein determining further comprises identifying data related to the task that the user has entered into the application page; retrieving from a help information data store help information applicable to the determined user progress context; displaying the task pane near the application page, wherein the task pane includes at least part of the retrieved help information related to the determined user progress context and at least a portion of the data that the user has entered into the application; and highlighting one or more regions of the application page related to the determined user progress context and retrieved help information to increase user focus on the regions, wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18)
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11. A computer system for providing application assistance, the system comprising:
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a processor and memory configured to execute software instructions; a help request component configured to detect a first user request to activate application assistance to receive help performing one or more tasks related to a software application, the first user request received after the user has completed at least a portion of the one or more tasks; a help information store configured to store assistance information for display to the user during application assistance; a user progress context component configured to detect user progress within an identified application task, the task having a plurality of steps, determine user data provided by the user at one of the plurality of steps prior to the user requesting the application assistance, wherein the user data is data that originates outside the software application, and provide context information to other components of the system, the context information including the determined user data; a task pane mode component configured to provide application assistance to the user through a task pane user interface displayed outside of an application page for which the user has requested assistance; an in-page mode component configured to provide application assistance to the user through assistance information displayed within the application page for which the user has requested assistance; and a page highlighting component configured to focus user attention on one or more regions of an application page to help direct the user to a next step location of a task by displaying at least a portion of the context information. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification