USER INTERFACE FOR A MULTIMEDIA SERVICE

• US 20080168387A1
• Filed: 01/04/2008
• Published: 07/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Starz Entertainment, LLC (Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Starz Entertainment, LLC (Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation)
• Inventors: Brownrigg, Richard T., Robinson, Jodi Lynne, Harbaugh, Jerad Harrison, Ogden, Stephen Aric, Lim, Rebecca Rusk, Ellertson, Brian Scott
• Granted Patent: US 8,060,824 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/799
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor

Abstract

Methods, systems, and machine readable media are disclosed for providing a user interface for a service distributing multimedia content. According to one embodiment, providing a user interface accessing a media service can comprise generating a representation of a stage for presenting graphical elements related to multimedia content provided by the media service and displaying a first view of the stage, wherein the first view of the stage includes a portion of the stage less than all of the stage. The first view of the stage can comprise at least a first pane and a second pane, the first pane and the second pane including different portions of the stage. The first pane can include a first plurality of graphical elements representing content items available through the media service.

Claims

1. A method of providing a user interface for a client application, the client application for providing access to a media service, the method comprising:

generating a representation of a stage for presenting graphical elements related to multimedia content provided by the media service; and

displaying a first view of the stage, wherein the first view of the stage includes a portion of the stage less than all of the stage.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first view of the stage comprises at least a first pane and a second pane, the first pane and the second pane including different portions of the stage.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first pane includes a first plurality of graphical elements representing content items available through the media service.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising, in response to a user selection of one of the first plurality of graphical elements, displaying the selected graphical element with a fly out effect within the first pane.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying a first navigation element in the second pane, the first navigation element indicating a direction to additional portions of the stage.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

in response to a user selection of the first navigation element, replacing the first pane with a second navigation element indicating a direction of additional portions of the stage;

moving the second pane to a previous location of the first pane; and

displaying a third pane, the third pane including a portion of the stage represented by the first navigation element.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the third pane includes a second plurality of graphical elements representing content items cached by the client application.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising, in response to a user selection of one of the second plurality of graphical elements, displaying the selected element with a fly out effect in the third pane.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

displaying a spotlight element in a background of the user interface, the spotlight element indicting a current focus for the user interface.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein indicating the current focus comprises indicating a pane containing an element having focus.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein indicating the current focus comprises moving the spotlight element to the pane having focus.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising changing the spotlight element in response to a user action.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein changing the spotlight element comprises temporarily increasing a brightness of the spotlight element.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the user action comprises selecting an element of the user interface.

15. The method of claim 6, wherein the second pane includes a video preview window.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein moving the second pane to a previous location of the first pane comprises sliding the video preview window from a first location to a second location while content is playing in the preview window.

17. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a series of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to provide a user interface for accessing a media service by:

generating a representation of a stage for presenting graphical elements related to multimedia content provided by the media service; and

displaying a first view of the stage, wherein the first view of the stage includes a portion of the stage less than all of the stage.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the first view of the stage comprises at least a first pane and a second pane, the first pane and the second pane including different portions of the stage.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first pane includes a first plurality of graphical elements representing content items available through the media service.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising, in response to a user selection of one of the first plurality of graphical elements, displaying the selected graphical element with a fly out effect within the first pane.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising displaying a first navigation element in the second pane, the first navigation element indicating a direction to additional portions of the stage.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 21, further comprising:

in response to a user selection of the first navigation element, replacing the first pane with a second navigation element indicating a direction of additional portions of the stage;

moving the second pane to a previous location of the first pane; and

displaying a third pane, the third pane including a portion of the stage represented by the first navigation element.

23. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the third pane includes a second plurality of graphical elements representing content items cached by the client application.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising, in response to a user selection of one of the second plurality of graphical elements, displaying the selected element with a fly out effect in the third pane.

25. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

displaying a spotlight element in a background of the user interface, the spotlight element indicting a current focus for the user interface.

26. The machine-readable medium of claim 25, wherein indicating the current focus comprises indicating a pane containing an element having focus.

27. The machine-readable medium of claim 26, wherein indicating the current focus comprises moving the spotlight element to the pane having focus.

28. The machine-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising changing the spotlight element in response to a user action.

29. The machine-readable medium of claim 28, wherein changing the spotlight element comprises temporarily increasing a brightness of the spotlight element.

30. The machine-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the user action comprises selecting an element of the user interface.

31. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the second pane includes a video preview window.

32. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, wherein moving the second pane to a previous location of the first pane comprises sliding the video preview window from a first location to a second location while content is playing in the preview window.