Method and system for improving interaction with a user interface

• US 20070198950A1
• Filed: 02/17/2006
• Published: 08/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Townsend, Reed, Scott, Bryan, Dodge, Steven, Kolmykov-Zotov, Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 7,966,573 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/815
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04805 Virtual magnifying lens, i.e. window or frame movable on top of displayed information to enlarge it for better reading or selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• 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

Abstract

Upon detection of user input, a computing device (e.g., tablet PC, PDA, cellular device) may determine whether the input corresponds to a request to enhance elements of the user interface. In response to a positive determination, the computing device may magnify or otherwise modify the appearance of particular graphical elements of the interface to facilitate user interaction. The computing device identifies one or more graphical elements that are within a predefined proximity or area of the input location and displays an enlarged version of those elements to provide the user with a larger interaction area. Additionally, a computing device may clone (i.e., copy) the identified elements and enlarge the cloned elements at a specified region of the user interface. In another aspect, the computing device may magnify the entire area associated with the location of user input, rather than just the interactive elements of that predefined area.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a processor to perform a method for modifying a user interface, the user interface comprises at least one displayed interactive element and at least one displayed non-interactive element each having a first size, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving user input;

identifying at least one interactive element located in an area of the user interface,

wherein the area is based on a location where the user input was received; and

in response to a result of the step of identifying, displaying the at least one identified interactive element in a second size different from the first size and the non-interactive element in the first size, wherein the non-interactive element is located within the area.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining a type of user input;

comparing said type of user input to at least one predefined rule, wherein the at least one predefined rule defines a type of modification associated with the type of user input; and

determining whether the user input corresponds to the request based on the comparison of the type of user input to the at least one predefined rule.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying at least one interactive element located in an area of the user interface, further comprises:

identifying at least one application associated with the user interface; and

requesting a set of interactive elements associated with the predefined area.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein the step of identifying at least one application associated with the user interface comprises identifying at least one application with an associated graphical element on the user interface.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein the step of requesting a set of interactive elements associated with the predefined area comprises transmitting a request message to the at least one application.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the at least one identified interactive element in a second size different from the first size comprises enlarging the at least one identified element.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the at least one identified interactive element in a second size different from the first size comprises:

displaying an enlarged copy of the at least one identified interactive element in a predefined interactive region of the user interface simultaneously with the at least one identified interactive element.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving user input corresponding to user interaction with the at least one identified element displayed in the second size.

9. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a processor to perform a method for modifying a user interface displayed on a touch-sensitive display screen, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving user input via the touch-sensitive display screen;

identifying at least one application associated with the user interface;

identifying at least one interactive element of the at least one identified application located in an area of the user interface, wherein the area is based on a location of the touch-sensitive display screen where the user input was received; and

displaying the at least one identified interactive element in a different size.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the step of displaying the at least one identified interactive element in a different size comprises determining a degree of magnification.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the step of receiving user input via a touch-sensitive display screen further comprises detecting a pressure associated with the received user input.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein a degree of magnification of the enlarged version is based on the detected pressure associated with the received user input.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein a size of the area is based on the detected pressure.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the step of identifying at least one interactive element of the at least one identified application located in an area of the user interface comprises requesting a set of interactive elements associated with the area.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of requesting a set of interactive elements associated with the area comprises transmitting a request message comprising data associated with the predefined area and the location at which the user input was received.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 9, further comprising magnifying the area of the user interface.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 9, further comprising the step of receiving user input corresponding to user interaction with the at least one identified interactive element displayed in the different size.

18. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a processor to perform a method for modifying a user interface, the user interface comprising first versions of interactive elements and non-interactive elements, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving user input;

identifying at least one interactive element associated with an area of the user interface, wherein the area is based on a location where the user input was received;

retrieving a second version of the at least one interactive element; and

displaying the second version of the at least one interactive element simultaneously with the first versions of the non-interactive elements.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the step of identifying at least one element associated with an area of the user interface, further comprises:

identifying at least one application associated with the user interface; and

requesting a set of interactive elements associated with the area.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the step of displaying the second version of the at least one interactive element comprises displaying the second version at a predefined interactive region of the user interface simultaneously with the first version of the at least one identified interactive element.