Column Organization of Content

• US 20100103124A1
• Filed: 05/20/2009
• Published: 04/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Guntaur, Paula, Wilson, Brian M., Voss, Chad Aron, Kruzeniski, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,411,046 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04807 Pen manipulated menu
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/109 Font handling; Temporal or kinetic typography
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2746 Sorting, e.g. according to history or frequency of use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2747 Scrolling on a display

Abstract

Column organization of content is described. In an implementation, a mobile communications device configures a user interface to include a plurality of representations of content arranged according to a plurality of columns that permits navigation between first and second said columns upon detection of a gesture input via a touchscreen of the mobile communications device. The user interface is displayed on a display device of the mobile communications device. The first column is configured for vertical navigation through each of the plurality of representations and the second column includes a filtered subset of the plurality of representations such that at least one of the representations is included in the first column and not the second column.

Claims

1. A method performed by a mobile communications device comprising:

configuring a user interface to include a plurality of representations of content arranged according to a plurality of columns that permits navigation between first and second said columns upon detection of a gesture input via a touchscreen of the mobile communications device; and

displaying the user interface on a display device of the mobile communications device in which;

the first said column is configured for vertical navigation through each of the plurality of representations; and

the second said column includes a filtered subset of the plurality of representations such that at least one said representation is included in the first said column and not the second said column.

2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein said representations that are accessible via the second said column are also accessible via the first said column.

3. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the displaying is performed such that:

an entire width of one or more said representations included in the first said column is displayed on the display device;

a portion of a width of at least one said representation included in the second said column is displayed concurrently on the display device with the first said column; and

the one or more representations of the first said column are separated by a space from the portion of the at least one said representation of the second said column.

4. A method as described in claim 3, wherein the gesture includes a tap of the space between the first and second said columns.

5. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the gesture is not a pan gesture.

6. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the user interface is further configured by the mobile communications device such that detection of a pan gesture causes the representations arranged in the columns to be displayed to have a substantially similar width.

7. A method as described in claim 1, wherein representations in the first column to have a font size that is larger than a font size of representations in the second column.

8. A method as described in claim 7, wherein the user interface is further configured by the mobile communications device such that detection of a pan gesture causes the representations arranged in the columns to employ a substantially similar font size.

9. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the content is contact information.

10. A mobile communications device comprising a display device and one or more modules to:

display representations of content in a first column on the display device as separated by a space from a concurrent display of partial representations of content in a second column; and

if a gesture is detected via touchscreen functionality of the display device that involves interaction with the space, display representations of content in the second column concurrently with partial representations of content in the first column.

11. A mobile communications device as described in claim 10, wherein the representations when display as partial representations are truncated at an edge of the display device.

12. A mobile communications device as described in claim 10, wherein the representations of content in the first and second columns correspond to a matching level of a hierarchical file system.

13. A mobile communications device as described in claim 10, wherein the interaction is a tap of the space.

14. A mobile communications device as described in claim 10, wherein:

the representations in the first column to have a font size that is larger than a font size of representations in the second column; and

if a pan gesture is detected by the one or more modules via touchscreen functionality, display the representations in the first and second columns as having a matching font size.

15. A mobile communications device as described in claim 10, wherein:

the display is performed by the one or more modules before the gesture is detected such that the partial representations of content in the second column are displayed concurrently with complete representations of the content in the first column; and

the display is performed by the one or more modules after the gesture is detected such that the partial representations of content in the first column are displayed concurrently with complete representations of the content in the second column.

16. One or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that are executable by a mobile communications device to:

configure representations of contacts in a first column to have a font size that is larger than a font size of representations of contacts in the second column; and

if a pan gesture is detected by the mobile communications device, display the representations in the first and second columns as having a matching font size.

17. One or more computer-readable media as described in claim 16, wherein the representations in the first column are separated by a space from a concurrent display of representations of contacts in a second column that are displayed partially such that at least a portion of the representations of contacts in the second column is truncated.

18. One or more computer-readable media as described in claim 17, wherein if a tap gesture is detected that involves interaction with the space, display representations in the second column concurrently with partial representations of content in the first column such that at least a portion of the representations of contacts in the second column is truncated.

19. One or more computer-readable media as described in claim 16, wherein the first column includes representations of each of a plurality of the contacts that are accessible via vertical scrolling and the second column includes a subset of the representations such that at least one said representation included in the first column is not included in the second column.

20. One or more computer-readable media as described in claim 16, wherein:

the first column is configured for vertical navigation through each of a plurality of the representations; and

the second column includes a filtered subset of the plurality of the representations such that at least one said representation is included in the first column and not the second column.