Scrollable Document Annotations Without Content Clutter
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for displaying annotations in electronic documents fail to effectively link annotations with their associated content, leading to clutter, difficulty in navigation, and loss of important annotations, especially in collaboration environments with many users.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for displaying annotations in a scrollable region adjacent to the document content, where the spacing of annotations in the region is based on the spacing of their associated anchors, allowing annotations to be viewed without selection and maintaining visual links with the content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If annotations are displayed adjacent to content in the electronic document, then annotations are easily accessible and visible, but the document becomes cluttered and difficult to navigate when there are many annotations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the display area into two separate regions: a canvas region for displaying document content and a sidebar region for displaying annotations. This segmentation allows annotations to be displayed without cluttering the document content, as each type of information is confined to its own dedicated space. Users can view multiple annotations simultaneously in the sidebar while the canvas remains clean and focused on the document content.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If annotations are hidden and only hints are displayed, then the document remains clean and uncluttered, but users must select hints to view annotation content which becomes cumbersome with many annotations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves annotations from the traditional inline position (within the document flow) to a perpendicular dimension by displaying them in a sidebar region adjacent to the canvas. This dimensional shift allows annotations to be displayed without occupying space within the document content area, keeping the document clean while providing immediate access to annotation content without requiring user interaction with hints.
3Loss of information
If a separate pane is used to display annotations, then annotations can be displayed without truncation, but it becomes difficult to determine which content an annotation is associated with
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color coding and visual indicators to establish the association between annotations and their corresponding content. Annotations in the sidebar are visually linked to their associated content in the canvas through consistent coloring, positioning, or indicator markers, allowing users to easily identify which content each annotation refers to even though they are displayed in separate regions.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Systems and methods for displaying annotations associated with an electronic document. One system includes an electronic computing device with an electronic processor configured to display a user interface on a display device. The user interface includes a canvas displaying a first subset of content included in the electronic document and a region scrollable independent from the canvas. The electronic processor is also configured to display a first plurality of annotations in the region. Each of the first plurality of annotations are associated with an anchor within the first subset of the content and displayed spaced within the region in at least one dimension based on spacing of the associated anchors. The electronic processor is further configured to change the region to display a second plurality of annotations in the region in response to changing the canvas to display a second subset of the content included in the electronic document.