Instant Messaging Contact List Segmentation and Hierarchical Organization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Instant messaging clients face challenges in managing large contact lists, requiring users to scroll through numerous contacts to find online or relevant individuals, leading to an inefficient communication experience.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for dynamically generating and refreshing contact lists based on predefined criteria, including online status, interaction scores, and location priority, to prioritize and display the most relevant contacts in a user-friendly manner.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the IM client displays all contacts in the contact list, then the user can see every contact, but the user interface becomes cluttered and requires scrolling, reducing ease of operation
Solution Approach 1:
The contact list is segmented into multiple hierarchical levels: groups (folders) containing subgroups, and contacts within each subgroup. This segmentation allows the system to organize thousands of contacts into manageable portions that can be displayed without requiring extensive scrolling, while still providing access to all contacts through the hierarchical structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hierarchical dimension to the contact list organization, moving from a single flat list to a multi-level tree structure with groups, subgroups, and contacts. This dimensional change allows efficient navigation and display of large numbers of contacts by adding organizational layers rather than simply expanding a single list.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the IM client allows users to configure contact display settings (online status, groups, folders), then users can customize their view, but managing these groups and configurations becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The contact list structure is designed to be dynamic rather than static. Groups and subgroups can be automatically created, modified, and reorganized based on user interactions and system criteria. The hierarchical structure adapts to user needs without requiring manual configuration of every detail, reducing management complexity while maintaining high adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically manages contact organization by creating groups and subgroups based on predefined criteria and user behavior patterns. This self-service approach reduces the burden on users to manually configure and maintain complex group structures, while still providing customized contact displays tailored to individual user needs.
3Ease of operation
If the IM client displays only online contacts or contacts in specific groups, then the contact list becomes more manageable, but users may miss relevant contacts that are offline or in other groups
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary organization of contacts into hierarchical groups and subgroups based on predefined criteria before the user needs to access them. This advance organization ensures that relevant contacts are pre-positioned in the appropriate locations within the hierarchy, making them easily discoverable when users navigate the structured contact list, while maintaining overall contact visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The hierarchical group structure acts as an intermediary between the complete contact list and the user's view. Instead of displaying all contacts directly or filtering them aggressively, the group structure mediates by organizing contacts into logical categories that preserve visibility of all contacts while making the list manageable through structured navigation.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for presenting instant messaging contacts are provided. At a computing device having one or more processors that execute one or more programs stored in memory of the computing device there is obtained, from a first electronic device, a first online status of an instant messaging contact. The instant messaging contact is logged-in, at the first electronic device, with respect to an instant message application. Further there is obtained a second online status of the instant messaging contact from a second electronic device. The instant messaging contact is also logged-in, at the second electronic device, with respect to the instant message application. There is determined, with respect to the instant messaging application, an overall online status for the instant messaging contact using the first online status and the second online status.