Context-Aware Component Presentation via Interface Dictionary
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties in finding the right functionality for performing business tasks in business applications due to their complexity and the lack of connection between unstructured information from generic applications and formal functionalities, leading to increased effort and unused features.
Innovation Solution
A method that captures user context through context sensors, determines relevant application components by searching a user interface dictionary, and presents them to the user with computed relevance scores for direct access, enhancing user interface efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If business applications provide comprehensive functionality for specific business tasks, then the application capabilities are improved, but the device complexity increases making it difficult for users to find the right functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of context sensors, a user interface dictionary, and a relevance computation mechanism that mediates between the user's unstructured information (emails, documents) and the structured functionality of business applications. This intermediary automatically matches user context with relevant application components, resolving the complexity issue without reducing application capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by automatically analyzing user context, searching the user interface dictionary for relevant components, computing relevance scores, and presenting suggested functionalities without requiring users to manually navigate through complex application interfaces. The system serves itself by autonomously bridging the gap between unstructured user needs and structured application functions
2Adaptability or versatility
If business applications contain specialized functionality for specific tasks, then the application functionality is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates as users cannot find the right functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-building a user interface dictionary that maps user interface strings to application components during system initialization or offline processing. This preliminary preparation enables rapid matching of user context with relevant functionality without requiring complex real-time analysis, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining comprehensive functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring user context through context sensors, analyzing the captured text for key terms, and dynamically updating the presentation of relevant components based on the computed relevance scores. This feedback loop ensures that the most appropriate functionality is always presented to the user based on their current needs
3Adaptability or versatility
If comprehensive business application functionality is provided, then the application versatility is improved, but the loss of time increases as users spend more effort searching for functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual search process with an automated information processing system. Instead of users manually navigating through application menus and searching for functionality, the system uses context sensors to capture user needs, processes the captured text through text analysis, searches the user interface dictionary automatically, and presents relevant components. This substitution of mechanical search with automated processing dramatically reduces the time required to find functionality while maintaining comprehensive application versatility
4Adaptability or versatility
If business applications are designed with formal functionalities, then the application capabilities are improved, but the ease of operation worsens due to lack of connection to unstructured information from generic applications
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements universality by creating a user interface dictionary that can map various forms of unstructured information (emails, documents, presentations) to structured application functionalities. The context sensors and text analysis mechanism are designed to handle multiple types of input sources, and the relevance computation applies universally across different user contexts, enabling seamless connection between diverse unstructured information and formal application functions
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment the present invention includes a computer implemented method of presenting relevant application components to a user of a computer system. The method includes capturing text displayed in open applications, determining key terms in the captured text based on a key terms catalog, and determining potentially relevant components by using the key terms to search a user interface dictionary. The user interface dictionary corresponds to a map between user interface strings and user interface components. The method further includes computing relevance scores for potentially relevant components, and presenting to the user the relevant components that correspond to relevant ones of the potentially relevant components, according to the relevance scores.