System and method for providing dynamic user information in an interactive display

• US 20080120569A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Charles Cummins, David A. Matthews, Fabrice A. Debry, Hillel Noah Cooperman, Justin Mann
• Inventors: Debry, Fabrice A., Matthews, David A., Mann, Justin, Cummins, Charles, Cooperman, Hillel Noah
• Granted Patent: US 7,577,922 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/792
• 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

The present invention is directed to a method and system for use in a computing environment to present and provide access to information that a user cares about. A scheme is provided for presenting frequently used controls and information in tiles within a sidebar. Tiles are hosted individually or in groups, within a sidebar, for interaction by a user. Tiles can be added or removed from the sidebar automatically or by user request. The present invention is further directed to a method for providing a scaleable and useable preview of tiles within a sidebar. Further still, the present invention is directed to maintaining an overflow area of icons for tiles that would not fit within the sidebar. The sidebar has content that dynamically adjusts in response to the addition, expansion, squishing or removal of tiles. Even Further, a user can customize the sidebar of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method in a computing environment for providing information to a user, comprising:

configuring a sidebar of a predetermined display size to provide dynamic content that is updated automatically;

providing a plurality of tiles in a first region of the sidebar to display at least part of the dynamic content;

providing an overflow area in a second region of the sidebar different from the first region;

in response to an automatic update of the dynamic content, creating an additional tile for displaying additional content resulting from the update;

determining a total display area of the plurality of tiles including the additional tile;

determining an available display area of the sidebar based on the predetermined display size;

comparing the total display area to the available display area;

when the comparison indicates that the total display size exceeds the available display area, performing the following;

bumping one or more tiles from the sidebar in order to provide the additional tile in the sidebar while maintaining the sidebar at the predetermined display size; and

populating said overflow area with icons that represent the one or more tiles that have been bumped from said sidebar, said overflow area displaying said icons without user interaction.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein prior to bumping said one or more tiles from said sidebar, said plurality of tiles are squished within said sidebar to notify a user that one or more tiles will be bumped from said sidebar.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein said squished tiles are useable as displayed and are not just bit image pictures.

4. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein aspect ratio of tiles are maintained when said tiles are squished.

5. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein there is a continuous transition from full scale to said squished state.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein prior to being bumped from the sidebar, said one or more tiles flash to provide visual notification to a user.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said one or more tiles get bumped due to an addition of a new tile, and said addition is performed automatically by an application program.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said one or more tiles get bumped due to an addition of a new tile, and said addition is performed manually by user request.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said one or more tiles that get bumped are selected according to at least one of default tile size and tile priority.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of tiles are not overlapping and can be varied in dimension to accommodate the addition of other tiles.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said overflow area has multiple rows of icons.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said overflow area can grow dynamically as needed.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the sidebar is configured to automatically update the dynamic content to provide additional content associated with the installation of an application program.

14. A system for providing user access to a variety of informational items, comprising:

a sidebar having a predetermined display size and configured to provide dynamic content that is updated automatically;

a plurality of tiles to display at least part of the dynamic content; and

an overflow area,

wherein said sidebar contains a first region and a second region, the first region configured to display said plurality of tiles and the second region configured to include said overflow area;

wherein, in response to an automatic update of the dynamic content,

an additional tile is created for displaying additional content resulting from the update,

a total display area is determined for the plurality of tiles including the additional tile based on default tile sizes,

an available display area of the sidebar is determined based on the predetermined display size, and

the total display area is compared to the available display area;

wherein one or more icons are placed in said overflow area to represent one or more tiles of the plurality of tiles automatically removed from the first region of the sidebar to provide sufficient space in the first region to display one or more remaining tiles in respective default tile sizes, the one or more tiles being removed when the comparison indicates that additional viewable area in the sidebar is needed to display said plurality of tiles while maintaining the sidebar at the predetermined display size; and

wherein the one or more icons placed in said overflow area are visible without user interaction.

15. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein prior to placing the one or more icons in said overflow area, said plurality of tiles are squished within said sidebar to notify a user that the removed one or more tiles will be removed from said sidebar.

16. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein prior to being removed from the sidebar, said one or more tiles flash to provide visual notification to a user.

17. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein said one or more tiles are removed due to an addition of a new tile, and said addition is performed automatically by an application program.

18. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein said one or more tiles are removed due to an addition of a new tile, and said addition is performed manually by user request.

19. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein said one or more tiles that get removed are selected according to one or more criteria one from the group consisting of position within said sidebar, default tile size, and tile priority.

20. A user interface embodied on a computer readable medium and executable on a computer, comprising:

a sidebar area having a first region and a second region,

wherein the first region is configured to display one or more tiles,

wherein the second region includes an overflow area displaying a plurality of icons each representing a respective one of a plurality of tiles removed from said first region, wherein each of the plurality of icons includes indicia of its respective tile, the indicia being visible in the overflow area without user interaction,

wherein the sidebar is displayed at a predetermined display size before the removal of the plurality of tiles, and

wherein the plurality of tiles are removed, and the plurality of icons are displayed, in such a manner as to maintain the sidebar at the predetermined display size.

21. A computer-implemented method for execution in a graphical user interface environment for user interaction, comprising:

displaying a sidebar of a predetermined display size;

presenting on the graphical user interface a first group of tiles within the sidebar;

providing for the addition of one or more tiles to said sidebar, resulting in a second group of tiles;

shrinking said second group of tiles to fit within said sidebar if there is insufficient display area within said sidebar for said second group of tiles to be displayed in a default size while maintaining the sidebar at the predetermined display size;

presenting on the graphical user interface an overflow area in the sidebar configured to display one or more icons each representing a respective one of one or more tiles removed from said sidebar,

wherein the second group of tiles is displayed in a shrunken state in the sidebar prior to the one or more tiles being removed from the sidebar,

wherein a remainder of the second group of tiles not removed from the sidebar are expanded to a default size subsequent to the one or more tiles being removed, and

wherein each of the one or more icons includes indicia of its respective tile, the indicia being visible in the sidebar without user interaction.