Kickstart Control Elements for Document Processing Jobs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing document processing systems in networked environments require users to perform multiple steps to activate processing jobs, leading to increased user input and time spent at the digital image reproduction device, especially in shared environments where multiple users submit jobs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing 'kickstart' control elements on the user interface that identify and initiate the most likely processing jobs based on criteria such as recent submission, importance, or urgency, allowing users to quickly activate their jobs with minimal input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users manually select and activate processing jobs through multiple steps, then job activation accuracy is improved, but user input effort and time spent at the device increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically identifying and preparing the most likely processing job to be activated before the user arrives. The management unit pre-selects jobs based on criteria such as recent submission, user priority, or job importance, so that when the user reaches the device, the job is already identified and ready for quick activation through a single kickstart control element.
Solution Approach 2:
The system serves itself by automatically managing the job selection process without requiring user intervention for job identification. The management unit autonomously monitors submitted jobs, applies selection criteria, and generates kickstart control elements that represent the most likely jobs to be activated, freeing users from the manual job selection process while maintaining accurate job activation.
2Ease of operation
If the system provides detailed job selection interfaces, then user control over job activation is improved, but device complexity and user input requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the complex job selection logic from the user interface and relocates it to the management unit. Instead of presenting users with complex menus and multiple selection steps, the system extracts only the essential activation function and presents it through simplified kickstart control elements, while the management unit handles the complex job identification in the background.
Solution Approach 2:
The kickstart control elements serve multiple functions: they represent the selected job, indicate job priority or recency, and provide the activation function all in a single unified interface element. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate controls for job selection, priority indication, and activation, simplifying the interface while maintaining comprehensive user control.
3Measurement precision
If the system requires multiple steps for job activation, then precision in job selection is improved, but productivity and user convenience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The management unit performs the precise job selection analysis in advance, applying multiple criteria (submission recency, user priority, job importance) to identify the most likely job to be activated. This preliminary precision work is done before the user arrives, so that the actual activation process requires only a single kickstart action, combining high selection precision with fast activation speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling document processing in a networked system and a digital image reproduction device for document processing are described. The system has workstations for submitting processing jobs of a user, and a memory unit that manages the jobs that are waiting to be executed. The method includes providing, at a user interface of the digital image reproduction device, control elements for a user to select a processing job from the processing jobs in a logical storage space; and executing the selected processing job. Kickstart processing jobs are selected, based on predetermined kickstart criteria, from the processing jobs in the memory unit, and a corresponding set of kickstart control elements is provided at the user interface, each coupled to a respective one of the selected kickstart processing jobs. When a kickstart control element is activated by a user, the associated kickstart processing job is directly initiated.