Digital Magazine Server Dynamic Layout Adaptation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Publishers face challenges in optimizing digital magazine content presentation across various devices with different display areas and resolutions, leading to resource and performance issues, and the need for customized layouts that are impractical to maintain as the number and variety of devices increase.

Innovation Solution

A digital magazine server organizes content items into sections and uses page templates with adjustable display regions, specifying sizes as percentages of the display area, to dynamically determine the layout and select the most suitable template based on the client device's dimensions, user interaction history, and content characteristics, ensuring efficient resource use and enhanced user engagement.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If publishers create customized content layouts for each device, then content presentation optimization is improved, but device complexity and maintenance burden increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontent presentation optimizationVSAvoidlayout customization complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies universality by creating a single page template that can be dynamically adapted to multiple device types and screen sizes. Instead of maintaining separate customized layouts for each device, the system uses one template with adjustable display regions that automatically resize and reposition based on the device's display characteristics, making the template universally applicable across diverse devices.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements dynamics by making the display regions within the page template dynamically adjustable. The positions and sizes of display regions are not fixed but are determined at runtime based on the client device's display area, allowing the same template to adapt its layout dynamically to fit different screen dimensions and resolutions without requiring separate static templates for each device.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Adaptability or versatility

If publishers maintain customized layouts for each device, then content presentation quality is improved, but resource consumption and performance overhead increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontent presentation qualityVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining a page template with multiple display regions that have predetermined positional and dimensional relationships. This preliminary setup eliminates the need for complex runtime calculations to determine layout structure, as the framework is already established and only requires simple parameter adjustments to adapt to different devices, thereby reducing computational overhead.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The single page template serves multiple functions across different device types, eliminating the need to maintain and process multiple device-specific templates. This universal template reduces the computational resources required for template selection, storage, and management while still delivering optimized content presentation for various devices.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Stability of the object's composition

If publishers use fixed display region sizes in page templates, then layout consistency is improved, but adaptability to different display areas deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelayout consistencyVSAvoidadaptability to display areas
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies parameter changes by making the display region dimensions and positions variable parameters within the page template. Instead of using fixed values, the template allows these parameters to be adjusted based on the client device's display characteristics, enabling the same template structure to maintain consistency in its organizational logic while adapting its specific dimensional parameters to fit different screen sizes and resolutions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

4Productivity

If publishers increase the number of display regions in page templates, then content organization capability is improved, but device complexity and processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontent organization capabilityVSAvoidtemplate structure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by dividing the page template into multiple discrete display regions, each capable of presenting different content items. This segmentation allows for organized content presentation while keeping each region independently manageable. The regions are structured in a systematic way that facilitates easy positioning and sizing adjustments without creating overall template complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS10437913B2Determining heights of content regions presenting content in a digital magazine
Publication Date: 2019.10.08 FLIPBOARD INC
  • US10437913B2 patent drawing
  • US10437913B2 patent drawing
  • US10437913B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A digital magazine server displays content to a user based on a page template specifying sizing and positioning of content items. Display regions in the page template for presenting content items have a width determined by a width of a display area of a client device presenting the content and heights determined based on a percentage of the width of the display area. For example, heights of various display regions are determined as a product of a value and the percentage of the width of the display area. Heights of display regions may be determined so that different display regions have different heights.