App Navigation Interface Using Sequential Open-App Icons
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for navigating through concurrently open applications on electronic devices with touch-sensitive displays, such as smartphones and tablets, are cumbersome, inefficient, and place a significant cognitive burden on users, while also wasting energy, particularly in battery-operated devices.
Innovation Solution
A multifunction device with a touch-sensitive display provides a modeless transition between applications via predefined gestures and a separate navigation mode that displays a sequence of open application icons, allowing users to efficiently switch between applications using predefined inputs and gestures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single application is displayed at a time on a small screen, then the display layout is simple, but navigation through concurrently open applications becomes cumbersome and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The interface is segmented into multiple functional areas: a primary application display area and a secondary navigation area. The navigation area displays a sequence of icons representing concurrently open applications, allowing users to switch between applications without leaving the current application view. This segmentation enables efficient navigation while maintaining a simple overall interface structure.
2Ease of operation
If conventional navigation methods are used, then the interface is simple, but cognitive burden on users increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-displaying a sequence of icons representing concurrently open applications in the navigation area. This allows users to quickly identify and switch to desired applications without having to recall or search for application names, significantly reducing cognitive burden while maintaining fast navigation speed.
3Use of energy by moving object
If applications are navigated through using conventional methods, then the process is straightforward, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation interface operates continuously by maintaining a persistent display of the application sequence icons in the navigation area. This continuous availability of navigation information eliminates the need for users to repeatedly access application lists or menus, reducing both navigation time and energy consumption by keeping the display in a low-power state when not actively navigating.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes a touch-sensitive display and one or more programs stored in memory for execution by one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for displaying a first application view that corresponds to a first application in a plurality of concurrently open applications. The one or more programs include instructions for detecting a first input, and in response, concurrently displaying a group of open application icons that correspond to at least some of the plurality of concurrently open applications with at least a portion of the first application view. The open application icons are displayed in accordance with a predetermined sequence of the open applications. The one or more programs include instructions for detecting a first gesture distinct from the first input, and in response, displaying a second application view that corresponds to a second application adjacent to the first application in the predetermined sequence.