Free-form Gesture Input for Mobile Payment Interfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional payment processes on small screens or mobile devices are inconvenient, requiring users to find and select specific buttons, which can lead to frustration, errors, and cancellation of transactions due to the complexity of navigation.
Innovation Solution
Implementing free-form actions such as swiping a check mark or 'V' to approve and an 'X' to cancel transactions on touch-screen displays, or using verbal commands like 'checkout' or 'cancel' to initiate or terminate processes, allowing users to perform actions without selecting specific buttons or links.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If specific buttons or links are used for transaction actions, then transaction functionality is provided, but user convenience and speed of operation deteriorate due to the need to locate and select specific buttons on small screens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential functional meaning of buttons (approval, cancellation, currency selection) and removes the need for physical button locations. Users simply draw the corresponding symbol (check mark, X, currency symbol) anywhere on the screen, eliminating navigation complexity while preserving transaction functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the drawing area universal - any location on the screen can serve as the input area for transaction actions. The same drawing gestures (check mark for approval, X for cancellation, currency symbols for conversion) work throughout the interface, eliminating the need for users to locate specific buttons.
2Productivity
If multiple buttons are provided for different actions, then transaction options are available, but operation time increases due to the need to search for and select the correct button
Solution Approach 1:
The system prepares by recognizing that users will draw symbols directly on the screen. The interface is designed to detect drawing gestures and interpret them as transaction commands, eliminating the need for users to search through multiple buttons during the transaction moment.
3Area of stationary object
If small buttons are used to fit the screen, then device portability is maintained, but selection accuracy deteriorates due to difficulty in precisely selecting small buttons
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from point-based button selection to area-based drawing recognition. Instead of requiring precise contact with small button areas, the system recognizes drawing gestures (check marks, X's, currency symbols) which have spatial extent and can be drawn anywhere on the screen, dramatically improving selection accuracy while maintaining screen real estate.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and computer program products for allowing a user to perform a free-form action to initiate an activity associated with a user interface element are provided. For example, a computer-implemented method may include providing a user interface comprising a user interface element for display, detecting a free-form action performed by a user, determining a free-form definition corresponding to the detected free-form action where the determined free-form definition is one of a plurality of stored definitions, and performing an activity associated with the user interface element where the activity corresponds to the determined free-form definition.