Browser Application Integration via Unified Parent-Child Interface
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Solution Overview
Problem
In distributed computer environments, especially in enterprises, disparate browser-based applications often have different looks and feels, leading to inefficiencies due to varied login processes and siloed functionalities, making it difficult to access data across applications.
Innovation Solution
An integration application that provides a single interface with a parent area and a child area, allowing multiple browser-based applications to be integrated, enabling a unified look and feel, managing user authentication, and presenting notifications without interrupting the current application interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple disparate browser-based applications are used in a distributed computing environment, then functionality and data from different applications become siloed and inaccessible, but integrating these applications into a unified interface increases system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an integration application as an intermediary layer between the user and multiple disparate browser-based applications. This integration application acts as a mediator that provides a unified interface to access functionality and data from different applications without requiring direct integration between the applications themselves, thus reducing the complexity of the overall system architecture while improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The integration application is segmented into distinct functional components: a parent area that displays a list of available applications, a child area that displays the selected application's content, and a navigation mechanism that switches between them. This segmentation allows the complex integration function to be broken down into manageable, independent modules that can be implemented and maintained more easily.
2Loss of time
If each application requires separate login and authentication processes, then user authentication becomes time-consuming and inefficient, but implementing unified authentication across multiple applications increases security management complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The integration application implements a universal authentication mechanism that serves multiple functions: it authenticates users for the integration application itself, and also uses this authentication to enable access to multiple different browser-based applications. This multi-functional authentication approach eliminates the need for separate login processes for each application while maintaining security through centralized authentication management.
3Ease of operation
If applications have different looks and feels, then user experience becomes fragmented and inconsistent, but creating a unified interface for all applications reduces the flexibility and adaptability of each individual application
Solution Approach 1:
The interface is segmented into two distinct areas: a parent area that provides a consistent, unified structure for displaying application lists and navigation, and a child area that displays the content of the selected application. This segmentation allows the parent area to maintain uniformity and consistency across all applications while the child area preserves the original flexibility and adaptability of each individual application's interface design.
Solution Approach 2:
The integration application serves as an intermediary interface layer that translates between the unified interface requirements and the diverse application interfaces. It presents a consistent look and feel to the user while allowing each underlying application to maintain its own unique interface characteristics, thus resolving the conflict between consistency and flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments as disclosed may include an integration application that allows multiple disparate applications to be integrated. Specifically, in certain embodiments, a method of providing multiple browser-based applications through a single interface may include providing a single interface, configured for integrating the multiple browser-based applications, to a user, wherein the single interface has a parent area associated with a set of applications and a child area for presenting content associated with the set of applications.