Instant Messaging Contact Display Using Geographic Location
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional instant messaging software requires users to manually categorize and manage contacts by geographic location, leading to a complex and inflexible process, especially when dealing with numerous contacts across various areas, resulting in poor visual presentation and lack of spatial and regional differentiation.
Innovation Solution
A contact display method and system that utilizes geographic location information to display contacts on a map interface, where contacts are positioned according to their administrative region, simplifying the process and enhancing visual differentiation by using a preset map with areas corresponding to administrative regions, allowing for automatic display and operation on contacts within specified areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If contacts are displayed in a list form with manual categorization by geographic location, then users can organize contacts into groups, but the process becomes complex and inflexible when dealing with numerous contacts across various areas
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically obtains geographic location information for contacts through IP address detection and database matching, eliminating the need for users to manually categorize contacts by location. The server performs the categorization service automatically based on location data, making the system self-serving rather than requiring continuous user intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a one-dimensional list view to a two-dimensional map interface for displaying contacts. By projecting contact locations onto a geographic map, the system provides spatial visualization that naturally handles complex categorization without increasing operational complexity, as the map automatically organizes contacts by their geographic coordinates.
2Adaptability or versatility
If users create multiple user-defined lists for different geographic areas, then contacts can be categorized by location, but the process requires repeated manual operations and lacks flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The server automatically detects contact IP addresses, determines geographic locations through database matching, and organizes contacts into location-based groups without user intervention. This automated service eliminates the time users would spend creating and maintaining multiple geographic lists manually.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-obtains and stores geographic location information for all contacts in the database before display is needed. When a user views contacts, the geographic categorization is already prepared and can be instantly displayed on the map interface, eliminating the need for real-time manual categorization operations.
3Loss of information
If contacts are displayed in a conventional list-based mode, then all contacts can be shown, but there is no visual presentation improvement and poor spatial and regional sense
Solution Approach 1:
The patent projects contact data from a one-dimensional list onto a two-dimensional geographic map interface. This dimensional transformation preserves all contact information while adding spatial context, allowing users to visually perceive geographic distribution, distances, and regional relationships that are invisible in traditional list views.
Solution Approach 2:
The map interface uses visual elements such as color-coded markers, region highlighting, and symbolic representations to encode geographic information. Different visual styles indicate different locations, contact types, or interaction states, providing rich spatial information presentation without complicating the underlying data structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure, pertaining to the field of instant messaging, discloses a contact displaying method, an instant messaging client, and a server. The method includes: acquiring, by an instant messaging client, geographic location information of a contact from a server; and upon receiving a request for displaying a first interface, displaying, by the instant messaging client, the first interface, and displaying the contact in a position, corresponding to the geographic location information, on the first interface. The instant messaging client includes a receiving module and a displaying module. According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, geographic location information of a contact is acquired, and the contact is displayed in a corresponding position on a map interface according to the geographic location information of the contact. In this way, a contact list does not need to be re-defined, thereby simplifying operations on the contact list. In addition, contacts may be differentiated according to geographic locations thereof, such that the contacts are displayed more visually, facilitating simultaneous operations on the contacts pertaining to the same area.