Hierarchical Menu Navigation Bypassing Levels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hierarchical user interfaces require multiple navigation steps and can cause delays due to data transmission, especially when accessing content via a network, making it cumbersome for users to select media content.
Innovation Solution
A user interface method that displays menu elements with associated content titles, allowing navigation within a row by detecting input commands, enabling users to bypass hierarchical levels through cursor focus and directional inputs, providing a parallax view for efficient content selection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional hierarchical menu navigation is used, then content can be organized and accessed systematically, but users must complete multiple navigation steps which increases time and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-loads content data from multiple hierarchical levels into memory before the user needs to access it. When a user views a menu level, the system proactively retrieves and caches content from subordinate levels, so that when the user navigates deeper into the hierarchy, the data is already available locally, eliminating network transmission delays and reducing navigation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the traditional linear hierarchical navigation into a multi-dimensional interface where users can access content from different levels simultaneously. By displaying preview thumbnails of content from deeper levels within the current menu view, users can jump to specific content without traversing each hierarchical level sequentially, effectively adding a spatial dimension to navigation and reducing the number of steps required.
2Reliability
If hierarchical menu levels are traversed step-by-step, then data can be loaded systematically, but each navigation step causes transmission and loading delays
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary data retrieval by pre-loading content from multiple hierarchical levels into memory buffers before users actually need to access it. This advance preparation ensures data is ready for immediate display, maintaining accuracy while eliminating delays during actual navigation and content access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous background data loading where the system continuously retrieves and caches content from deeper hierarchical levels while the user is navigating at higher levels. This continuous useful action ensures that data loading occurs in parallel with user navigation rather than blocking it, maintaining both reliability and speed.
3Device complexity
If multiple navigation steps are required to access content, then hierarchical organization is maintained, but user experience becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a visual preview dimension to the hierarchical menu structure. By displaying thumbnail previews of content from deeper levels within the current menu view, users can see available content without navigating to it. This maintains the hierarchical organization for data structure purposes while providing a simplified user interaction path where users can directly select from visible previews, reducing the perceived complexity and improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces preview thumbnails as an intermediary between the hierarchical menu structure and the user. These thumbnails act as a visual mediator that represents content from deeper levels without requiring users to traverse the full hierarchy. Users interact with these intermediary previews rather than directly navigating through multiple menu levels, simplifying the user experience while preserving the underlying hierarchical organization.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus are provided for a user interface to allow for navigating a hierarchical menu. In one embodiment a method includes displaying a user interface including one or more menu elements, wherein each menu element is associated with a row of content titles that may be displayed by the user interface and detecting an input command associated with a menu element. The method may further include updating the display of the user interface based on the input command, wherein presentation of a row of content titles associated with the menu element is updated to allow for navigation within the row, and wherein content titles presented by the user interface for the menu element are a subset of content titles that may be accessed based on the menu element. The method may allow for bypassing one or more levels of the hierarchical menu.