Cross-IA Historical Breadcrumb Control for Multi-Hierarchy Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing breadcrumb trails do not provide sufficient usability for interacting with increasingly complex information architecture (IA) structures of multiple datasets, and they fail to effectively navigate the user's browsing history across multiple IA hierarchies.
Innovation Solution
A cross-information architecture (IA) historical breadcrumb control is implemented, which generates and displays a list of breadcrumb trails in a temporal order on a user device, allowing users to navigate through multiple IAs and return to previously visited pages using a compact breadcrumb-history control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional breadcrumb trails are used to navigate IA structures, then simple navigation is supported, but usability for complex multi-dataset IA structures deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines traditional breadcrumb trails with browsing history functionality into a unified historical breadcrumb control. This merging allows the interface to simultaneously provide hierarchical navigation (breadcrumb) and temporal navigation (history) capabilities, enabling users to navigate complex multi-dataset IA structures effectively by displaying both the current path and previously visited pages in an integrated control element.
Solution Approach 2:
The historical breadcrumb control serves multiple functions: it acts as both a traditional breadcrumb trail showing the current hierarchical path and as a browsing history manager displaying previously visited pages. This multi-functionality allows a single interface element to handle both spatial navigation within an IA and temporal navigation across multiple IAs, improving adaptability to complex multi-dataset structures.
2Adaptability or versatility
If comprehensive browsing history is tracked across multiple IAs, then navigation capability improves, but interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges breadcrumb trail display with browsing history tracking into a single historical breadcrumb control. By combining these two previously separate functions into one unified interface element, the system provides comprehensive navigation capability across multiple IAs without proportionally increasing interface complexity. The control efficiently displays both hierarchical path information and temporal history information in an integrated manner.
3Measurement precision
If detailed page location paths are displayed for multiple IAs, then navigation precision improves, but information overload occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential navigation information from complete page location paths and displays them as condensed breadcrumb trails. Instead of showing full hierarchical paths with all intermediate nodes, the system selectively displays key navigation points and previously visited pages, maintaining precise page location tracking while reducing the quantity of displayed navigation information to manageable levels.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, computer system, and a computer program product for cross-information architecture (IA) historical breadcrumb control is provided. The present invention may include generating a historical breadcrumb control on a user device. The present invention may also include rendering a list of breadcrumb trails in the generated historical breadcrumb control in a temporal order, wherein each breadcrumb trail in the rendered list of breadcrumb trails represents a page location path of an IA accessed by a user.