Hardware Menu Button Touchscreen Drag Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile device interfaces require users to lift their finger from a hardware menu button and re-touch the screen to select a menu item, which is time-consuming and counterintuitive.
Innovation Solution
A method where a hardware menu button, separate from the touchscreen, is used to display a menu on the screen, allowing users to drag their finger from a starting point within a defined region on the touchscreen to select a menu item, with the corresponding command executed upon reaching a termination point.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users press a hardware menu button and then re-touch the screen to select a menu item, then the menu can be displayed and selected, but the operation becomes time-consuming and counterintuitive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the hardware menu button press action with the touchscreen selection action into a continuous gesture. When the user presses the hardware menu button, the system displays the menu on the touchscreen and maintains the button press state, allowing the user to simply drag their finger across the touchscreen to select a menu item without releasing and re-pressing. This combines two separate actions (button press + screen touch) into one continuous operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by displaying the menu on the touchscreen immediately upon detecting the hardware menu button press, and by maintaining the button press state active. This preliminary display and state maintenance enables the user to proceed directly to selection without additional preparatory steps, eliminating the need to release and re-touch the screen.
2Productivity
If the menu is displayed on the touchscreen immediately upon button press, then selection is faster, but the interface becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The touchscreen serves multiple functions: it displays the menu interface, receives selection gestures, and communicates back to the hardware button state. By making the touchscreen multi-functional, the system avoids adding separate display hardware or complex intermediary interfaces, thereby increasing productivity without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for presenting a menu at a computing device are provided. In some aspects, an indication of a user touching a hardware menu button of the computing device is received, where the hardware menu button is separate and distinct from a touchscreen of the computing device. A menu on the touchscreen is presented in response to the user touching the hardware menu button, where the menu includes multiple menu elements, and where each menu element has a corresponding command. An indication of the user touching the touchscreen at a starting point within a dragging-start region of the touchscreen is received. An indication of the user dragging a touching device along the touchscreen from the starting point to a termination point is received, where the termination point is associated with a termination menu element. A signal is provided for execution of the corresponding command of the termination menu element.