GUI Navigation Policy Definition for Intuitive Interaction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) face challenges in intuitive navigation, resource efficiency, and flexibility, particularly in supporting both keyboard and pointing device interactions, while requiring minimal developer effort for design and maintenance across various devices and tasks.
Innovation Solution
A GUI definition document that incorporates navigation data sets to define navigation policies for navigable elements, allowing navigation between elements based on specific events, thereby simplifying navigation and reducing resource usage by defining both layout and navigation mechanisms in a single document.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If navigation is made intuitive and flexible for both keyboard and pointing device interactions, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity and resource usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation policy mechanism serves multiple functions: it handles both keyboard and pointing device navigation, works across different GUI layouts and devices, and manages both intuitive user navigation and developer-defined navigation rules through a single unified system. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by making the navigation mechanism adaptable to various interaction modes without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes navigation parameters dynamically based on the active element and event type. Different navigation policies are applied depending on whether keyboard or pointing device is used, and policies can be modified per element. This parameter-based approach allows intuitive navigation for different input methods while managing complexity through configurable parameters rather than hard-coded logic.
2Adaptability or versatility
If navigation mechanism is made flexible for different devices and tasks, then adaptability improves, but ease of manufacture and maintenance worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Developers define navigation policies in advance during GUI creation, specifying how navigation should work for different elements, devices, and tasks before the GUI is actually used. These pre-defined policies are stored and automatically applied at runtime, eliminating the need for complex adaptive logic and reducing both developer effort and maintenance complexity while maintaining high adaptability.
3Manufacturing precision
If navigation data is stored per element and event, then navigation precision improves, but resource usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of storing comprehensive navigation data for all elements uniformly, the system applies navigation policies locally based on the specific active element and event type. Each element has associated policies relevant to its context, and only the necessary policy data is loaded and processed at runtime. This local quality approach ensures precise navigation for each element while optimizing resource usage by avoiding unnecessary data storage.
Data Source
AI summary
A graphical user interface (GUI) definition document such as an HTML document incorporates one or more navigation data sets that define a navigation policy for various navigable elements in a graphical user interface. The navigation data sets are generally associated with navigable elements and specify other navigable elements to be navigated to in response to associated navigation events such that, whenever a particular navigable element is active and a particular navigation event is received, a navigation data set associated with both the particular navigable element and navigation event may be accessed to determine another navigable element to be activated in response to the navigation event.