Customizable Electronic Program Guide with Dynamic Layout

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional electronic program guides are cumbersome for users to navigate, requiring extensive traversal of rows and columns to find specific shows or channels, which negatively impacts the user experience.

Innovation Solution

A customizable electronic program guide that displays content based on user preferences, allowing users to configure the view by selecting preferences such as favorite channels, popularity, and alphabetical order, with a main view showing time vertically and channels horizontally, and a moveable timeline indicating current time and remaining playback duration.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If conventional electronic program guides display channels in rows and times in columns, then complete programming information is provided, but user navigation becomes tedious and time-consuming

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprogramming information completenessVSAvoiduser search time

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The electronic program guide dynamically reconfigures its display layout based on user-selected preferences, transitioning from a static row-column grid to a customized arrangement that prioritizes frequently watched channels and time periods, thereby reducing navigation time while preserving complete programming information

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The guide applies different display qualities and organizational structures to different sections based on user preferences, with favorite channels receiving prominent positioning and customized time ranges getting expanded views, allowing efficient access to preferred content while maintaining comprehensive information availability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Adaptability or versatility

If conventional electronic program guides display all channels in fixed rows, then comprehensive channel coverage is achieved, but user effort to find specific content increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvechannel coverageVSAvoidcontent discovery ease

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the organizational parameters of the electronic program guide based on user preferences, altering channel ordering, time range displays, and layout configurations to match individual viewing habits, thereby making content discovery easier while maintaining comprehensive channel coverage

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The guide performs preliminary organization of channels and time periods according to user preferences before the user begins searching, pre-positioning favorite channels and relevant time slots in prominent locations, which reduces the effort required to find specific content while preserving full channel availability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS10491960B2Customizable electronic program guide

Publication Date: 2019.11.26 SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC

AI summary

Implementations generally relate to electronic program guides. In some implementations, a method includes causing a main view of an electronic program guide to be displayed. The method further includes receiving one or more user preferences associated with the electronic program guide. The method further includes causing content items to be displayed in the electronic program guide based on the one or more user preferences.