SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISPLAYING AN EXPANDING MENU VIA A USER INTERFACE

• US 20160077684A1
• Filed: 09/11/2014
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Media, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.), Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Liu, Agnes, HUANG, Shin-Yi
• Granted Patent: US 10,296,167 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• 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 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for presenting content to users using expanding menus. Among other things, the expanding menus allow a range of categories of content to be simultaneously presented to a user on a display, even on smaller devices where display space is at a premium.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

displaying, by a computing device, a plurality of menu bars via a touch-sensitive display screen of the computing device, wherein each of the plurality of menu bars is displayed with a first width corresponding to a collapsed state;

identifying, by the computing device, a first swipe gesture across the touch-sensitive display screen; and

in response to the first swipe gesture, gradually increasing the width of each of the plurality of menu bars displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a cessation of the first swipe prior to each of the menu bars being increased to a second width corresponding to a fully-expanded state; and

decreasing the width of each of the menu bars to their first width in response to the cessation of the first swipe.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a cessation of the first swipe subsequent to each of the menu bars being increased to a second width corresponding to a fully-expanded state; and

displaying the plurality of menu bars at the second width in response to the cessation of the first swipe.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

identifying, by the computing device, a second swipe gesture across the touch-sensitive display screen; and

in response to the second swipe gesture, gradually decreasing the width of each of the plurality of menu bars displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

identifying a cessation of the second swipe gesture prior to each of the menu bars being decreased to the first width corresponding to the collapsed state; and

increasing the width of each of the menu bars to their second width in response to the cessation of the second swipe gesture.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

identifying a cessation of the second swipe subsequent to each of the menu bars being decreased to the first width corresponding to the collapsed state; and

displaying the plurality of menu bars at the first width in response to the cessation of the second swipe.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of menu bars are disposed diagonally across at least a portion of the display screen.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of menu bars is displayed with a color that is distinct from any other menu bar.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of menu bars corresponds to a respective category of content items, and wherein text is displayed in each menu bar to identify the respective category of content items associated with each menu bar.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a respective icon is further displayed in each menu bar to identify the respective category of content items associated with each menu bar.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of menu bars corresponds to a respective category of content items, and wherein a respective icon is displayed in each menu bar to identify the respective category of content items associated with each menu bar.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of menu bars corresponds to a respective category of content items, the method further comprising:

detecting a selection of a menu bar from the plurality of menu bars via the touch-sensitive display screen; and

displaying, via the touch-sensitive display screen, a list of content items associated with the selected menu bar.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the content items include one or more of:

text, an image, video, audio, a map, a uniform resource locator, a graph, a slideshow, an article, and a file.

14. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computing device to:

display a plurality of menu bars via a touch-sensitive display screen of the computing device, wherein each of the plurality of menu bars is displayed with a first width corresponding to a collapsed state;

identify a first swipe gesture across the touch-sensitive display screen; and

in response to the first swipe gesture, gradually increase the width of each of the plurality of menu bars displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the medium further stores instructions for causing the computing device to:

identify a cessation of the first swipe prior to each of the menu bars being increased to a second width corresponding to a fully-expanded state; and

decrease the width of each of the menu bars to their first width in response to the cessation of the first swipe.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the medium further stores instructions for causing the computing device to:

identify a cessation of the first swipe subsequent to each of the menu bars being increased to a second width corresponding to a fully-expanded state; and

display the plurality of menu bars at the second width in response to the cessation of the first swipe.

17. A computing device comprising:

a processor; and

memory in communication with the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to;

display a plurality of menu bars via a touch-sensitive display screen of the computing device, wherein each of the plurality of menu bars is displayed with a first width corresponding to a collapsed state;

identify a first swipe gesture across the touch-sensitive display screen; and

in response to the first swipe gesture, gradually increase the width of each of the plurality of menu bars displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the memory further stores instructions for causing the computing device to:

identify a cessation of the first swipe prior to each of the menu bars being increased to a second width corresponding to a fully-expanded state; and

decrease the width of each of the menu bars to their first width in response to the cessation of the first swipe.

19. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the memory further stores instructions for causing the computing device to:

identify a cessation of the first swipe subsequent to each of the menu bars being increased to a second width corresponding to a fully-expanded state; and

display the plurality of menu bars at the second width in response to the cessation of the first swipe.