Operation Mode Key Customization with Use History Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multifunctional image processing apparatuses face user-friendliness issues due to numerous operation mode keys, leading to increased administration costs and productivity decline when users, especially entry-level users, struggle to differentiate and access necessary functions amidst numerous keys, and existing customization technologies can inadvertently hide frequently used keys, causing usability problems.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus and method that prevents operation mode keys from being hidden without condition, using a customizing portion to manage key selection screens, ensuring that frequently used keys remain accessible by storing use history and function groups, and displaying warning messages when hiding keys that belong to different function groups or have been used before.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If operation mode keys are customized by changing settings to reduce the number of displayed keys, then the screen becomes less cluttered and easier to navigate, but frequently used keys may be inadvertently hidden causing usability problems
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting whether a key has been used before storing this information in memory. When customization is attempted, the system checks the use history before hiding the key, ensuring frequently used keys are protected from being hidden. This preliminary detection and storage of usage patterns allows the system to make informed decisions about which keys to preserve during customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by displaying a warning message when an administrator attempts to hide a key that has been used before. This feedback mechanism informs the administrator of the potential impact of their action, allowing them to reconsider whether to proceed with hiding the key. The warning serves as a feedback loop that balances customization needs with preserving frequently used functionality.
2Device complexity
If operation mode keys are customized to remove unnecessary functions, then administration costs are reduced, but user-friendliness deteriorates when users cannot find needed keys
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting whether a key has been used before storing this information in memory. When customization is attempted, the system checks the use history before hiding the key, ensuring frequently used keys are protected from being hidden. This preliminary detection and storage of usage patterns allows the system to make informed decisions about which keys to preserve during customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by displaying a warning message when an administrator attempts to hide a key that has been used before. This feedback mechanism informs the administrator of the potential impact of their action, allowing them to reconsider whether to proceed with hiding the key. The warning serves as a feedback loop that balances customization needs with preserving frequently used functionality.
3Ease of operation
If all operation mode keys are displayed on the screen, then user accessibility is maximized, but the screen becomes cluttered and difficult to navigate
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the operation mode keys into different categories based on usage patterns. By dividing keys into frequently used and rarely used groups, the system can selectively display only the necessary keys on the main screen while keeping less frequently used keys available through customization options. This segmentation allows the screen to remain uncluttered while maintaining accessibility to important functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic customization where the displayed keys can be adjusted based on usage patterns and administrator preferences. Rather than a static display of all keys, the system dynamically adapts the key selection based on what has been used before and what the administrator chooses to preserve, creating a flexible interface that balances simplicity with accessibility.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus comprises: a display that displays a first screen including one or more than one first key for setting a mode to execute a function of the apparatus, and then, if one of the first keys is pressed, displays a second screen including one or more than one second key, which is a lower-class screen under the pressed first key; and a customizing portion that hides at least one of the first and the second keys on the first screen, according to a user operation, and wherein if a user changes to non-display, the setting of at least one of the first keys on the first screen, while there exists a second key preliminarily prohibited from being hidden, on the second screen that is a lower-class screen under the first key to be hidden according to the changed setting, the customizing portion doesn't hide the first key.