Association of display elements

• US 7,783,990 B2
• Filed: 05/05/2006
• Issued: 08/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Murarka, Neel Ishwar, Amadio, Louis, Bensaid, Phillip, Amos, Keira L, Cummins, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): England; Sara
• Application Number:
  US11/381,869
• Publication Number:
  US 20070260999A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,572 Days
• Field of Search: 715/811, 715/809, 715/800, 715/788, 715/781
• US Class Current: 715/809
• 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

A system and method is provided for displaying a display element on a display in which a display element may be displayed responsive to a command, the display element being associated with another display element. Also, in another example, the association between the display elements is also displayed. In one example, the association between the display elements is depicted via an animation.

Claims

1. In a computer system, a method of displaying to a user an association between display elements, said display elements responsive to user interaction, comprising:

displaying a first display element on a display wherein the first display element is a gadget providing up-to-date information in real-time;

triggering, upon said displaying the first display element and without any interaction of the user with the first display element, a command of the first display element to display a second display element wherein the second display element is subordinate to the first display element and the second display element is a gadget providing up-to-date information in real-time; and

responsive to the command, displaying the second display element and providing a visual association between the second display element and the first display element and permitting the user to interact with the second display element and allow real-time updating of the second display element, said displaying the second display element further comprising not responding to user interaction with the associated first display element during existence of the second display element and further comprising preventing real time updating of the up-to-date information on the first display element during existence of the second display element,

wherein providing the visual association comprises animating, responsive to the received command, the first display element and the second display element, said animating comprising changing the size of the first display element from a first size to a second size and changing the size of the second display element from a third size to a fourth size.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the visual association includes displaying at least a portion of the second display element appearing to the contact or overlap at least a portion of the first display element.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the animating changes the size of the first display element, and the first size is larger than the second size.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the animating changes the size of the second display element, and the third size is smaller than the fourth size.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the animating includes both changing the size of the associated first and second display elements and changing the size of the first display element occurs over a first predetermined period of time and changing the size of the size of the second display element occurs over a second predetermined period of time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the size of the first display element is different than the size of the second display element at the end of the first predetermined period of time and the second predetermined period of time.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first display element is smaller than the second display element at the end of the first predetermined period of time.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the first predetermined period of time is about equal to the second predetermined period of time.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein an association between the first display element and the second display element comprises the first display element and the second display element providing dynamic information corresponding to the same entity.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein an association between the first display element and the second display element comprises the second display element providing dynamic information based on the content of the first display element.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the dynamic information in the second display element comprises more detailed information corresponding to the content of the first display element.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein an association between the first display element and the second display element comprises an appearance of the second display element being dependent on the presence of the first display element on the display.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the appearance of the second display element occurs responsive to a selection of the first display element.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first display element and the second display element provide information related to one or more of the following:

traffic, stocks, news, weather, and sport scores.

15. A system for providing a visual association between display elements on a display, said display elements responsive to user interaction, said system comprising:

a display device adapted to display a plurality of display elements, said plurality of display elements comprising first and second display elements, wherein the plurality of display elements are gadgets providing up-to-date information in real-time;

an input for triggering, upon displaying the first display element and without any interaction of the user with the first display element, a command at the first display element to display the second display element at a first time, the second display element being subordinate to a displayed first display element; and

wherein the display device displays the second display element responsive to the received command and the system permits user interaction with the second display element and allows real-time updating of the second display element, wherein the display device animates, responsive to the triggered command at the first display element to display a second display element, the displayed first and second display elements indicating a visual association between the first and second display elements, wherein the system is unresponsive only to user interaction with the associated first display element during the existence of the second display element, wherein the visual association comprises an animation of the second display element springing from the first display element, said animation comprising simultaneously changing the size of the first display element from a first size to a second size in a stepwise manner and changing the size of the second display element from a third size to a fourth size in a stepwise manner, wherein real-time updates of only the first display element are prevented during existence of the second display element.

16. In a computer system having a graphical user interface including a display, a method of providing a visual association between display elements on the display, said display elements responsive to user interaction, comprising the steps of:

displaying a first display element and, said displaying subsequently triggering, without any user interaction with the displayed first display element, display of a second display element subordinate to the first display element, wherein the first display element is a gadget providing up-to-date information in real-time related to a clock and wherein the second display element is a gadget providing up-to-date information in real-time related to a schedule of activities, said displaying further comprising not responding to user interaction with the first display element during the existence of the second display element and preventing real time updating of the up-to-date information of the associated first display element during the existence of the second display element, said displaying further comprising permitting real-time updating of the second display element during its existence;

providing a visual association between the first display element and the second display element on the graphical user interface, said providing the visual association comprising animating the first display element and the second display element, said animating comprising continuously and arbitrarily changing the size of the first and second display elements; and

permitting user interaction with the second display element.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the association comprises one of the first display element and the second display element providing information pertaining to a single entity, an appearance of one of the first or second display element depending on the other of the first or second display element, and one of the first or second display element providing information from the other of the first or second display element.