Contextual Contact Priority Management for Travel Interruption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern electronic devices, programmed to minimize disturbances during certain events or times, may become less accessible to important communications, leading to delayed receipt of critical messages while users are traveling.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device temporarily modifies contact priorities by determining travel destinations and making contacts for individuals traveling with or at the destination as preferred contacts, enabling audible alerts for these contacts while disabling alerts for non-preferred contacts during a limited-interruption mode.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the device enables do-not-disturb mode to reduce interruptions, then user peace and quiet are improved, but accessibility to important communications deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different alert rules to different contacts based on their location relative to the user's travel destination. Contacts at the travel destination receive elevated priority with audible alerts enabled, while other contacts maintain standard do-not-disturb restrictions. This localized differentiation resolves the contradiction by allowing important communications from travel-related contacts to penetrate the do-not-disturb mode while maintaining peace for other interruptions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts contact priorities and alert behaviors based on the user's real-time location and travel status. When the device detects travel to a destination, it automatically elevates the priority of contacts at that destination. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain do-not-disturb mode during travel while selectively allowing important communications from travel-related contacts, thus resolving the accessibility contradiction.
2Device complexity
If the device maintains static contact priorities, then system simplicity is improved, but adaptability to travel contexts deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically detecting travel events and pre-elevating the priority of contacts at the travel destination before the user needs to manually adjust settings. This automated preliminary detection and adjustment maintains system simplicity while achieving travel context adaptability, as the system proactively prepares the contact priority structure based on detected travel patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The system serves itself by automatically detecting travel contexts through location data and autonomously adjusting contact priorities without requiring user intervention. The device monitors its own location, identifies when travel to a destination occurs, and automatically elevates relevant contacts' priorities. This self-service approach maintains simplicity while achieving travel context responsiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for contextually managing contact priorities based on travel includes an electronic device configured to determine a travel destination remote from a home location for the electronic device and to determine a set of individuals who will be located at the travel destination. The electronic device is further configured to temporarily make one or more contacts for the set of individuals preferred contacts while traveling and to enable a limited-interruption mode on the electronic device while traveling, wherein an audible alert on the electronic device is enabled for preferred contacts and disabled for non-preferred contacts while the limited-interruption mode is enabled.