Dynamic Bubble Budget Visualization for Intuitive Data Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing budget management software struggles to provide intuitive and easily understandable graphical representations of personal budget data, especially on small display devices, as bar graphs and pie charts are not intuitive, can be misleading, and become complex when trying to depict multiple categories, leading to difficulties in visualizing relativity and understanding budgetary situations.
Innovation Solution
The use of dynamically sized two or three-dimensional bubble or spheroid graphical representations to show total budget and sub-budget categories, where the size of each graphical representation is proportional to its budget amount and the display size, allowing for intuitive understanding of budgetary information and providing visual warnings for exceeding budget limits through color, texture, or size changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If bar graphs are used to depict budget data, then detailed numerical information can be displayed, but the graphical representation becomes misleading and non-intuitive, especially when budgets vary significantly in size
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from one-dimensional bar graphs to two-dimensional circular graphics where the area of each circle is proportional to the budget amount. This dimensional change allows the visualization to convey both categorical information and magnitude information simultaneously, making the representation more intuitive while preserving detailed budget information through the varying sizes of the circles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the visual parameter from linear bar length to circular area, where the area parameter directly corresponds to the budget amount. This parameter change allows for more effective visual encoding of magnitude differences, as human perception of area differences is more intuitive than bar length differences when comparing categories of vastly different sizes.
2Loss of information
If bar graphs are used to show all budget categories, then complete budget data can be displayed, but categories with significantly different sizes become difficult to visually comprehend
Solution Approach 1:
By using circular graphics arranged in a two-dimensional space rather than linear bars, the patent enables better visual comparison of categories with different magnitudes. The circular format with area-proportional sizing allows users to simultaneously perceive both the absolute size of each category and its relative position to others, improving visual comprehension while displaying complete budget data.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of circular/spheroidal shapes instead of linear bars provides a more intuitive visual metaphor for magnitude comparison. The curved, area-based representation naturally conveys proportional relationships more effectively than straight bars, making it easier to detect and measure the relative sizes of different budget categories at a glance.
3Ease of operation
If budget categories are grouped by size, then visual comprehension improves, but the device complexity increases and fine detail is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making each individual budget category visually distinct through its specific circular size and position, while the overall arrangement naturally groups categories by magnitude. This eliminates the need for explicit grouping structures, as each category's visual properties locally encode its magnitude, providing both individual detail and natural grouping without increasing organizational complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatuses, systems, methods, and program products are disclosed. An apparatus includes a processor and a memory that stores code executable by the processor to generate a first graphical representation of a total budget based on an amount of the total budget and an expense amount of the total budget amount, generate one or more second graphical representations of categories of sub-budgets of the total budget amount based on an amount of the total budget for the category and an expense amount of the total budget amount for the category, and graphically present, on a display, the first graphical representation and the one or more second graphical representations adjacent to the first graphical representation such that the first graphical representation and the one or more second graphical representations are dynamically sized relative to one another based on the total budget amounts for each graphical representation and a size of the display.