Methods and apparatus for user interface optimization

• US 9,658,735 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2014
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pegasystems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Pegasystems Incorporated
• Inventors: Sachs, Baruch, Trefler, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): CHANG, LI WU
• Application Number:
  US14/558,084
• Publication Number:
  US 20150089406A1
• Time in Patent Office: 903 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles

Abstract

The invention provides in one aspect a method that includes identifying one or more rules for execution by a rules engine in order to generate a user interface. The method further includes executing, on a digital data processing system that comprises one or more digital data processors, a step of determining whether one or more aspects of the user interface generated as a result of execution of at least one of those rules is in conformity with one or more requirements. The system responds to a negative such determination, according to the method, by identifying modifications to generate a conforming user interface from those one or more rules, modifying one or more of those rules to generate a conforming user interface from (e.g., based directly or indirectly on) those one or more rules, and/or generating a conforming user interface from those one or more rules. The method further calls for storing to and/or generating as an output from the digital data processing system a result those step(s).

Claims

1. A system for user interface optimization, the system comprising:

a rules base configured to store a plurality of rules that define an application having a user interface;

a rules engine configured to execute at least one rule from the rules base; and

a digital data processor in communication with the rules base and the rules engine,

wherein the system is configured for;

identifying one or more rules for execution by the rules engine;

generating any of (a) a markup language page providing a user interface and (b) a markup language stream providing the user interface as a result of execution of the one or more rules;

determining whether one or more aspects of the generated user interface is in conformity with one or more requirements based on comparing the one or more aspects of the user interface with the one or more requirements, the one or more aspects of the user interface pertaining to any of accessibility of the user interface by disabled users, amenability of the user interface to localization/globalization, and a need for localizing/globalizing the user interface, wherein the one or more requirements are defined relative to any of (a) one or more other rules and/or a user interface generated based thereon, (b) transactional data relating to the user interface, (c) a context in which the user interface is any of transmitted, displayed, and viewed by a user, and (d) a collection defining any of grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation, and style of the user interface;

responding to a negative such determination by executing any of;

i. generating a notification that identifies modifications to the one or more rules so as to generate at least one of the markup language page and the markup language stream providing a conforming user interface, the conforming user interface including a feature having a modified display characteristic vis-à

-vis a non-conforming user interface, wherein the display characteristic is modified based on one or more of the requirements relating to any of (a) transactional data associated with the field having the modified display characteristic and (b) the context in which the user interface is any of transmitted, displayed, and viewed by the user, and wherein execution of the one or more rules would otherwise result in the non-conforming user interface,

ii. modifying the one or more rules so as to generate the at least one of the markup language page and the markup language stream providing the conforming user interface, and

iii. modifying the at least one of the markup language page and the markup language stream providing the conforming user interface, and

any of storing to and generating as output from the system at least one of the generated notification, the modified one or more rules, the modified markup language page, and the modified markup language stream providing the conforming user interface.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more rules include any of metadata and one or more programming language statements.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the aspects of the user interface pertain to one or more of a language syntax of the user interface, the language syntax including any of grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation, and style;

security; and

layout.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein one or more of the aspects of the user interface pertain to tool tips provided with one or more fields of the user interface.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein one or more of the aspects of the user interface pertain to obfuscating one or more fields of the user interface.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein one or more of the aspects of the user interface pertain to any of priority of fields, color contrast, whitespace, alignment, field labels, element labels, redundancy, tool tips, progress indicators, and display resolution.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein one or more of the aspects of the user interface pertain to whitespace in at least one of tables and sections of the user interface.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein one or more of the aspects of the user interface pertain to use of redundant headers in at least one of tables and sections of the user interface.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein one or more of the aspects of the user interface pertain to visual hierarchy and/or indenting.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein one or more of the aspects of the user interface pertain to use of field types that cause a user to jump between input devices.

11. The system of claim 6,

wherein the one or more requirements pertain to a display resolution preference, and

wherein the conforming user interface includes a scrolling characteristic compared to the non-conforming user interface otherwise resulting from execution of the one or more rules.

12. The system of claim 6,

wherein the one or more requirements pertain to a navigational path of portions of the user interface, and

wherein the conforming user interface includes a feature reflecting the navigational path compared to the non-conforming user interface otherwise resulting from execution of the one or more rules.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more requirements are defined by a further rule.

14. The system of claim 1,

wherein the conforming user interface includes a field that is repositioned compared to the non-conforming user interface otherwise resulting from execution of the one or more rules, and

wherein a location of the repositioned field is based on a location of another field in the user interface.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the conforming user interface includes a field that is any of added to and removed from the user interface compared to the non-conforming user interface otherwise resulting from execution of the one or more rules.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the addition or deletion of the field is based on any of inclusion and exclusion of another field in the user interface.

17. The system of claim 1,

wherein the conforming user interface includes a field that has a modified display characteristic compared to the non-conforming user interface otherwise resulting from execution of the one or more rules, and

wherein the modified display characteristic is modified based on another field in the user interface.

18. The system of claim 1,

wherein the rules base stores one or more other rules among the plurality of rules, wherein the one or more other rules define at least one of a project management application and an issue tracking application;

and

wherein the system is further configured for;

communicating, to the at least one of the project management application and the issue tracking application, data related to the at least one of the generated notification, the modified one or more rules, the modified markup language page, and the modified language stream providing the conforming user interface.

19. A computer-implemented method for reconfiguring user interfaces, the method comprising:

receiving, on a digital data processing system including one or more digital data processors, one or more rules for execution by a rules engine;

generating any of (a) a markup language page providing a user interface and (b) a markup language stream providing the user interface as a result of execution of the one or more rules;

determining whether one or more aspects of the generated user interface is in conformity with one or more requirements based on comparing the one or more aspects of the user interface with the one or more requirements, the one or more aspects of the user interface pertaining to any of accessibility of the user interface by disabled users, amenability of the user interface to localization/globalization, and a need for localizing/globalizing the user interface,

wherein the one or more requirements are defined based on (a) one or more of the rules, and (b) transactional data relating to the user interface,

wherein the one or more requirements are defined relative to any of (a) one or more other rules and/or a user interface generated based thereon, (b) transactional data relating to the user interface, (c) a context in which the user interface is any of transmitted, displayed, and viewed by a user, and (d) a collection defining any of grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation, and style of the user interface, and

wherein the determining whether the one or more aspects of the user interface is in conformity with the one or more requirements includes determining whether one or more fields of the user interface defined by the one or more rules is in conformity with the one or more requirements; and

responding to a negative such determination by executing any of;

i. generating a notification that identifies modifications to the one or more rules so as to generate at least one of the markup language page and the markup language stream providing a conforming user interface, the conforming user interface including a feature having a modified display characteristic vis-à

-vis a non-conforming user interface, wherein the display characteristic is modified based on one or more of the requirements relating to any of (a) transactional data associated with the field having the modified display characteristic and (b) the context in which the user interface is any of transmitted, displayed, and viewed by the user, and wherein execution of the one or more rules would otherwise result in the non-conforming user interface,

ii. modifying the one or more rules so as to generate the at least one of the markup language page and the markup language stream providing the conforming user interface, and

iii. modifying the at least one of the markup language page and the markup language stream providing the conforming user interface, and

any of storing to and generating as an output from the digital data processing system at least one of the generated notification, the modified one or more rules, the modified markup language page, and the modified markup language stream providing the conforming user interface.

20. A computer-implemented method for user interface optimization, the method comprising:

identifying, on a digital data processing system that comprises one or more digital data processors, one or more rules for execution by a rules engine;

effecting generation of any of (a) a markup language page providing a user interface and (b) a markup language stream providing the user interface as a result of execution of the one or more rules;

determining whether one or more aspects of the effected user interface is in conformity with one or more requirements based on comparing the one or more aspects of the user interface with the one or more requirements, the one or more aspects of the user interface pertaining to any of accessibility of the user interface by disabled users, amenability of the user interface to localization/globalization, and a need for localizing/globalizing the user interface, wherein the one or more requirements are defined relative to any of (a) one or more other rules and/or a user interface generated based thereon, (b) transactional data relating to the user interface, (c) a context in which the user interface is any of transmitted, displayed, and viewed by a user, and (d) a collection defining any of grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation, and style of the user interface;

responding to a negative such determination by executing any of;

i. generating a notification that identifies modifications to the one or more rules so as to effect generation of at least one of the markup language page and the markup language stream providing a conforming user interface from the one or more rules, the conforming user interface including a feature having a modified display characteristic vis-à

-vis a non-conforming user interface, wherein the display characteristic is modified based on one or more of the requirements relating to any of (a) transactional data associated with the field having the modified display characteristic and (b) the context in which the user interface is any of transmitted, displayed, and viewed by the user, and wherein execution of the one or more rules would otherwise result in generation of the non-conforming user interface, and

ii. modifying the one or more rules so as to effect generation of the at least one of the markup language page and the markup language stream providing the conforming user interface, and

any of storing to and generating as an output from the digital data processing system at least one of the generated notification, the modified one or more rules, the modified markup language page, and the modified markup language stream providing the conforming user interface.