Peripheral Notification Regions on Mobile Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of notifications on mobile devices, coupled with decreasing display size, makes it difficult for users to differentiate and access notifications from various applications without disrupting their interaction with underlying applications.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of spatially arranged display regions around the mobile device screen, where each region indicates notifications from specific applications with non-pictorial and similarly appearing indicators, allowing users to identify the application based on the region's location, thus minimizing disruption to ongoing interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If notifications are displayed on the main screen, then users can easily access notification information, but the underlying application interaction is disrupted and display real estate is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The display is segmented into a main display area for application interaction and peripheral display regions for notifications. The peripheral regions are positioned at the edges or corners of the main display, allowing notifications to be displayed without consuming central display real estate or disrupting the primary application interface.
Solution Approach 2:
Notifications are extracted from the main display area and placed in separate peripheral display regions. This extraction allows the main display to remain dedicated to application interaction while notifications are accessible in the periphery, resolving the conflict between notification accessibility and application interaction continuity.
2Loss of information
If multiple notifications from different applications are displayed with distinct indicators, then users can differentiate between applications, but the display complexity and visual clutter increase
Solution Approach 1:
Each peripheral display region is assigned a distinct spatial location (e.g., different edges or corners of the main display) to represent different applications or notification types. The differentiation is achieved through spatial positioning rather than visual complexity, allowing users to identify applications based on the location of the peripheral region rather than complex indicator designs.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using visually distinct indicators for different applications, the patent inverts the approach by using spatially distinct but visually similar indicators. The differentiation comes from the location of the peripheral display region rather than the appearance of the indicator itself, simplifying the visual complexity while maintaining application identification capability.
3Weight of moving object
If display size is reduced for portability, then device mobility increases, but the available space for notifications decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the peripheral dimension of the display by placing notification indicators at the edges or corners of the main display area. This effective use of the display's dimensional space allows notifications to be displayed without reducing the central display area, enabling compact device design while maintaining notification visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The display area is segmented into a main interaction area and peripheral notification areas. This segmentation allows the main display to be optimized for application interaction while the periphery is utilized for notifications, maximizing the use of limited display real estate in compact devices.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus, method, and computer program product are provided for spatially indicating notifications to a user via display regions that are arranged (e.g., perimeterally) about the display of an apparatus. The apparatus may include a processor and a memory including computer program code which provide for the presentation, in a first display region, of an indication of a notification associated with a first application and provide for the presentation, in a second display region, of a non-pictorial indication of a notification associated with a second application. The first and second display regions may, for example, be arranged along the edges of a polygonal display. As such, a user may be able to quickly discern which application is responsible for a particular notification, and the user's view of an underlying application provided on the display may not be obscured or diminished as a result of the issuance of the notification.