Graphical User Interface Navigation Area Miniaturization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial graphical user interfaces face challenges in providing uniform and efficient operation across machines of varying sizes and types, with existing interfaces often being inconsistent and requiring extensive training due to different user philosophies and proprietary designs, while also needing to accommodate dimensional restrictions in industrial environments.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented graphical user interface featuring an information area and a navigation area with miniaturized representations of the workspace, where widgets can be moved and positioned to reflect changes on the main workspace, ensuring uniformity and adaptability across different display sizes, and allowing for configuration and customization through a graphical configuration interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary user interfaces with different operating philosophies are used for different machines, then each machine can have customized functionality, but training effort increases and operating consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal widget system where standardized interface elements (widgets) can be reused across different machines and functions. The navigation area with miniaturized workspace representation allows consistent navigation patterns regardless of the specific machine or function, enabling operators to transfer skills between different equipment while maintaining customized functionality through widget configuration.
2Loss of information
If display size is increased to show more information, then information visibility improves, but the physical space required increases which conflicts with dimensional restrictions in industrial environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a navigation area that provides an overview of the entire workspace in a miniaturized form, allowing operators to navigate and access different sections without requiring a proportionally larger main display. This effectively adds a dimensional layer to information access, enabling comprehensive control within limited physical space by utilizing the navigation hierarchy rather than expanding the primary display area.
3Ease of operation
If the interface is simplified for ease of use, then operational simplicity improves, but the configurability and customization options are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a drag-and-drop configuration system where operators can independently customize their own interfaces by positioning widgets in the navigation area and information area according to their specific needs. This self-service approach allows the interface to maintain simplicity for daily operation while enabling extensive configurability when needed, as users can adjust the interface themselves without requiring complex configuration procedures or administrator intervention.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a computer-implemented graphical user interface (6) for a display (60), comprising an information area (62) for presenting a section (A') of a desktop (A), on which a plurality of widgets (W1, W2, W3, W4, W5) are arranged. The user interface also comprises a navigation area (61), which is substantially smaller than the information area (62) and which is arranged outside of the information area (62) and which has a miniaturized presentation (A*) of the entire desktop and the widgets arranged thereon. The navigation area (61) and the information area (62) are coupled by means of a selection indicator (L), which can be moved in the navigation area (61), in such a way that a sub-area of the desktop (A*) presented in miniature determined in the navigation area (61) by the selection indicator (I) corresponds to the section (A') of the desktop (A) presented in the information area (62).