Vendor website GUI for marketing greeting cards

• US 9,292,175 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2014
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Minted LLC
• Original Assignee: Minted LLC
• Inventors: Patel, Namrata, Belling, Sean, Meade, Erica, Tanaka, Wesley, Bravo, Adrian, Naficy, Mariam B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pan, Yongjia
• Application Number:
  US14/203,909
• Publication Number:
  US 20150135127A1
• Time in Patent Office: 742 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 3/0483 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]

Abstract

A system stores, in a database, different stock templates and also, for each stock template, a stock image to be displayed with the template. The system receives a user-designated image. The system then displays items simultaneously. Each item incorporates a different one of the stock templates along with the respective template'"'"'s stock image. The system provides an image selector that is in a first position and capable of being switched by a user to a second position. Each time the user switches the selector to the second position, the system transforms the images in the displayed items simultaneously to the user-designated image. Each time the user switches the selector to the first position, the system transforms the images in the displayed items simultaneously to the items'"'"' respective stock images.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying, by a display screen, a front view of a first card for sale, the front view including a front plan view in which a front surface of the first card appears to be parallel with a front surface of the screen and further including the first card being portrayed on the screen as rotating oscillatorily while remaining less than 90 degrees from the front plan view;

receiving a trigger from the viewer indicating a request to view a rear surface of the first card;

in response to receiving the trigger, transitioning from a flat view of the first card to a bent view of the first card in which a lift tab section of the first card is bent over to cover only a portion of the front surface and reveal only a portion of a rear surface of the first card;

cause the display screen to display, simultaneously with the displaying of the first card, a front view of a second card for sale, the front view of the second card including a front plan view in which a front surface of the second card appears to be parallel with a front surface of the screen and further including the second card being portrayed on the screen as rotating oscillatorily while remaining less than 90 degrees from the front plan view, with the first card and the second card appearing to be rotating oscillatorily at different frequencies from each other and different amplitudes from each other and out of phrase from each other;

wherein;

the oscillatory rotating of the first card is about a vertical rotational axis that is on the first card, so that one section of the first card appears to rotate toward a viewer while another section of the first card appears to rotate away from the viewer;

the oscillatory rotating of the first card appears to be with randomly varying speed and varying amplitude;

the first card remains less than 15 degrees from the front plan view;

the transitioning is gradual such that the viewer can perceive the lift tab section appearing to be lifted toward the viewer, and then over, to arrive at the lift tab'"'"'s position in the bent view;

the first card appears to be suspended by a suspending structure; and

the displaying is implemented as part of a graphical user interface (GUI) of a vendor website of a merchant that sells cards, wherein instructions for implementing the GUI are received at the display screen over the Internet from a server that hosts the website;

the first card and the second card initially appear to be stationary;

the first card starts to oscillatorily rotate only when individually selected by the viewer; and

the second card starts to oscillatorily rotate only when individually selected by the viewer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first card has opposite first and second peripheral vertical edges and opposite first and second horizontal peripheral edges, and wherein (i) the entire first vertical edge, (ii) the entire first horizontal edge, (iii) only a portion of the second vertical edge and (iv) only a portion of the second horizontal edge occupy the same pixels in the bent view as they respectively do in the flat view.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the rotating of the first card is about an axis that is on the first card, so that one section of the first card appears to swing toward a viewer while another section of the first card appears to swing away from the viewer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the oscillatory rotation of the first card gradually decreases until reaching a full stop.

5. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software instructions configured to be executed by one or more processors to:

cause a display screen to display a front view of a first card for sale, the front view including a front plan view in which a front surface of the first card appears to be parallel with a front surface of the screen and further including the first card being portrayed on the screen as rotating oscillatorily while remaining less than 90 degrees from the front plan view;

receive a trigger from the viewer indicating a request to view a rear surface of the first card;

in response to receiving the trigger, transition from a flat view of the first card to a bent view of the first card in which a lift tab section of the first card is bent over to cover only a portion of the front surface and reveal only a portion of a rear surface of the first card;

cause the display screen to display, simultaneously with the displaying of the first card, a front view of a second card for sale, the front view of the second card including a front plan view in which a front surface of the second card appears to be parallel with a front surface of the screen and further including the second card being portrayed on the screen as rotating oscillatorily while remaining less than 90 degrees from the front plan view, with the first card and the second card appearing to be rotating oscillatorily at different frequencies from each other and different amplitudes from each other and out of phrase from each other;

wherein;

the oscillatory rotating of the first card is about a vertical rotational axis that is on the first card, so that one section of the first card appears to rotate toward a viewer while another section of the first card appears to rotate away from the viewer;

the oscillatory rotating of the first card appears to be with randomly varying speed and varying amplitude;

the first card remains less than 15 degrees from the front plan view;

the transitioning is gradual such that the viewer can perceive the lift tab section appearing to be lifted toward the viewer, and then over, to arrive at the lift tab'"'"'s position in the bent view;

the first card appears to be suspended by a suspending structure; and

the displaying is implemented as part of a graphical user interface (GUI) of a vendor website of a merchant that sells cards, wherein instructions for implementing the GUI are received at the display screen over the Internet from a server that hosts the website;

the first card and the second card initially appear to be stationary;

the first card starts to oscillatorily rotate only when individually selected by the viewer; and

the second card starts to oscillatorily rotate only when individually selected by the viewer.