Document Collaboration Change Tracking and Highlighting

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for multi-user document collaboration are often cumbersome and inefficient, involving sequential editing or merging different versions of documents, which can be time-consuming and lack effective real-time change tracking and communication tools.

Innovation Solution

Implementing animations to highlight changes, selective change highlighting, and smart text in document chat sessions to enhance collaboration by visually representing changes and facilitating communication among users, including features like jumping to another user's cursor location and automatic conversion of text into hyperlinks for document editor operations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If sequential editing or merging different versions is used for collaboration, then document changes can be tracked, but the collaboration process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvechange trackingVSAvoidcollaboration efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines real-time document editing, change tracking, and communication into a single integrated system. Multiple users can edit the same document simultaneously while changes are automatically tracked and synchronized, eliminating the need for sequential editing or manual merging of document versions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides real-time feedback to users about changes made by other collaborators through animations and visual indicators. This immediate feedback mechanism allows users to see changes as they happen without needing to manually track or merge versions, improving collaboration efficiency while maintaining reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Productivity

If real-time document updates are displayed to all users, then collaboration is improved, but user attention is分散 and important changes may be missed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecollaboration efficiencyVSAvoidchange detection

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses color-coded animations and visual indicators to highlight different types of changes (e.g., additions, deletions, modifications) made by different users. This visual differentiation makes it easy for users to quickly identify and prioritize important changes without being overwhelmed by all updates equally.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #32Color changes

Solution Approach 2:

The system employs animations that create visual 'vibrations' or movements to draw attention to specific changes. These animated highlights dynamically attract user focus to important updates, making change detection easier while maintaining real-time collaboration benefits.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #18Mechanical vibration

3Reliability

If all document changes are highlighted, then no important changes are missed, but the interface becomes cluttered and difficult to navigate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvechange visibilityVSAvoidinterface usability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies highlighting selectively rather than universally - only certain types of changes or changes from specific users are highlighted based on user preferences and change importance. This partial action approach maintains reliability by ensuring important changes are visible while preserving interface usability by avoiding excessive highlighting of all changes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Solution Approach 2:

Different visual treatments are applied to different parts of the document based on the nature and importance of changes. Critical changes receive prominent highlighting while less important changes use subtler indicators, creating a differentiated visual hierarchy that maintains both change visibility and interface usability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

4Loss of information

If users manually navigate to find collaborator changes, then communication is possible, but time is lost and collaboration efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication capabilityVSAvoidcollaboration time

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an automated intermediary system that manages change notification and communication between users. This intermediary automatically routes information about changes to relevant users through visual indicators and notifications, eliminating the need for manual navigation and reducing collaboration time while maintaining full communication capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS9122886B2Track changes permissions

Publication Date: 2015.09.01 APPLE INC

AI summary

Various features and processes related to document collaboration are disclosed. In some implementations, animations are presented when updating a local document display to reflect changes made to the document at a remote device. In some implementations, a user can selectively highlight changes made by collaborators in a document. In some implementations, a user can select an identifier associated with another user to display a portion of a document that includes the other user's cursor location. In some implementations, text in document chat sessions can be automatically converted into hyperlinks which, when selected, cause a document editor to perform an operation.