Direct Link Generation for Single-Page Application Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for accessing web-based applications lack a general mechanism for directly linking to arbitrary features, leading to inefficient navigation and productivity loss, especially in single-page applications where URLs do not change and dynamic URLs vary across users and sessions.
Innovation Solution
The system monitors URL changes and user interactions to analyze causal relationships between UI elements and URLs, generating direct links that navigate to features in a minimum number of steps, operable for different users and sessions, and can be used with speech or assistive devices for accessibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If web-based apps use single-page application design with dynamic URLs, then app functionality and user experience are improved, but direct linking to arbitrary features becomes impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of user interactions and URL changes to pre-identify causal relationships between UI elements and URL states. This allows the system to generate direct links in advance without requiring complex real-time analysis when users attempt to navigate to features.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary mechanism that monitors and analyzes the relationship between UI element interactions and URL changes. This intermediary layer captures interaction data, determines causal relationships, and generates direct links that bridge the gap between dynamic app behavior and static linking requirements.
2Productivity
If users manually navigate to app features through multiple UI interactions, then access to features is achieved, but productivity is reduced due to time loss
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the essential navigation path from multi-step manual interactions by identifying the causal relationship between initial UI elements and target URL states. This extraction process creates condensed direct links that bypass intermediate navigation steps while preserving the intended feature access path.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables users to skip intermediate navigation steps by generating direct links that jump straight to target features. The monitored interaction data allows the system to identify which UI elements lead to which URL states, creating shortcuts that rush through unnecessary intermediate pages and interactions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If direct links are generated for different users and sessions with dynamic URLs, then link versatility is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a universal direct link generation mechanism that works across different users and sessions. By monitoring and analyzing interaction patterns broadly, the system generates links that are adaptable to various user contexts while maintaining a consistent underlying approach, reducing the need for user-specific complex logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from monitored URL changes and user interactions to continuously refine and improve direct link generation. The collected interaction data provides feedback loops that help the system understand causal relationships better over time, adapting to different users and sessions without requiring manual configuration for each case.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, a method includes: receiving, by a computing device, information indicative of user interface (UI) elements of an application and inputs received by the UI elements; identifying, by the computing device, a feature of the application based on the received information; generating, by the computing device, a direct link to the feature by determining, from the received information, one or more of the UI elements that received inputs to navigate to the feature; and providing, by the computing device, the direct link to one or more users of the application, wherein in response to an input received on the direct link, the direct link interacts with the one or more UI elements to navigate to the application feature.