Dynamic Multi-Level Tooltip Generation for Web Interfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Web pages and applications often face constraints in screen space and computing resources, limiting the ability to provide detailed information, and existing tooltip solutions either block access to the original content or require users to click on links, consume memory, and alter the user interface.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic tooltip-generation capability that identifies items with additional information, updates tooltips in real-time as a user hovers over them, and provides multi-layered information through conventional web browser technology, allowing seamless access to detailed information without blocking the original content or requiring additional windows.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If pop-ups are used to provide detailed information, then users can access additional content, but access to the original page is blocked and browser resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the tooltip functionality with the existing webpage content by injecting additional information layers into the tooltip container itself, rather than opening separate pop-up windows. This allows detailed information to be displayed within the confines of the original page, eliminating the need to switch between different application windows and maintaining continuous access to both the original content and additional information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional two-dimensional pop-up windows to a multi-dimensional information display system. It implements multiple levels of information depth (first level, second level, third level tooltips) that can be accessed through sequential hovering, effectively adding a temporal and hierarchical dimension to information presentation without requiring separate window spaces.
2Loss of information
If links are opened in new windows or tabs to provide additional information, then users can view detailed content, but memory and CPU cycles are consumed and screen real-estate increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the information display function from separate window-based applications and consolidates it within the tooltip system. By pulling detailed information into the tooltip container and displaying it there through multiple hierarchical levels, the system eliminates the need for separate browser windows and tabs, thereby reducing memory consumption and CPU cycle usage associated with multiple application instances.
3Ease of manufacture
If static single-level tooltips are used, then implementation is simple, but detailed information cannot be provided without additional clicks or links
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms static single-level tooltips into dynamic multi-level tooltips that automatically expand and contract based on user interaction. The system dynamically adjusts the information displayed by detecting mouse hover duration and position, sequentially revealing first level, second level, and third level information without requiring explicit user commands, thereby maintaining simplicity while providing comprehensive detail.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-organizing information into multiple hierarchical levels within the tooltip structure before user interaction. The system prepares and stores multiple levels of detailed information in advance, so that when a user hovers over an element, the information is ready to be displayed sequentially without requiring additional data retrieval or processing during the interaction.
4Ease of operation
If the tooltip disappears when the user continues to hover, then the interface is simple, but detailed information cannot be accessed without leaving the hover state
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuity of useful action by maintaining the tooltip in a persistent state during extended mouse hover, rather than having it disappear. The system continuously displays the current level of detailed information as long as the user maintains hover, allowing seamless progression through multiple information levels without requiring the user to lift the mouse or trigger additional actions, thereby eliminating time loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A tooltip is updated dynamically as a user continues to hover a cursor over any displayed item for which additional information is available. The initial tooltip is terse or has one type of information, while the updates add more or substitute different information. Tooltips are created dynamically from whatever information is available about displayed items at the time. A client displays a web page, while a server identifies displayed items for which additional information is available, obtains the information, and either provides the information to the client to generate tooltips therefrom or generates the tooltips and provides them to the client.