User-Configurable Search Table with Local Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The vast volume of data on the Internet makes data retrieval and processing challenging, and existing visualizations like graphs and charts often fail to provide a meaningful representation of search results, requiring substantial user review time and lacking in insightful categorization.
Innovation Solution
A user-configurable graphical user interface that displays search results in a table with multiple sub-tables, each representing a category, allowing users to sort subsets independently using local control elements without affecting other sub-tables, and a global control element for sorting all sub-tables based on user selection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If search results are displayed as a simple list, then the system is simple to implement, but it requires substantial user review time and does not provide meaningful information organization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the search results into multiple sub-tables based on different categories (e.g., patent type, status, priority). Each sub-table contains a subset of results organized by specific criteria, allowing users to quickly locate relevant information without reviewing the entire result set. This segmentation reduces review time while maintaining interface manageability through clear visual separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a tabular dimension to the search results display, transforming a one-dimensional list into a two-dimensional table structure with rows and columns. This adds organizational depth by displaying multiple attributes (title, number, status, priority) simultaneously, enabling users to extract meaningful information more efficiently without increasing interface complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If search results are grouped by arbitrary categories, then some organization is provided, but the groupings may not assist a particular reviewer and reduce adaptability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic sorting capabilities where users can change sort criteria (ascending/descending order, different fields) for each sub-table independently. The system adapts to user preferences by allowing real-time reorganization of results within each category without requiring system reconfiguration, thus enhancing adaptability while maintaining ease of operation through intuitive controls.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different sorting and filtering characteristics to different sub-tables based on their specific categories. Each sub-table can be optimized with category-appropriate sort fields (e.g., priority for urgent patents, status for workflow tracking), providing locally optimized views that assist particular reviewers while maintaining overall system flexibility.
3Ease of operation
If global sorting is applied to all sub-tables, then consistency is maintained across categories, but it prevents independent sorting of specific categories and reduces operational flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent provides both global control elements for overall result sorting and local control elements for individual sub-table sorting. This segmentation of control functions allows users to apply sorting at different levels (global or local) depending on their needs, enhancing operational flexibility while managing complexity through hierarchical control structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements control elements that can function both globally and locally. The same sorting mechanism is applied universally across all sub-tables when global sorting is selected, but can also be applied individually to specific sub-tables when local sorting is selected. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate control mechanisms, managing complexity while providing flexibility.
4Loss of information
If detailed categorization is implemented to provide meaningful insights, then information organization improves, but the interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent organizes detailed information into segmented sub-tables, each focused on a specific category or aspect of search results. This segmentation presents comprehensive information in a structured, manageable format that improves information organization quality while preventing interface complexity from becoming overwhelming through clear visual separation and focused content in each section.
Data Source
AI summary
In a particular embodiment, a graphical user interface (GUI) generated by a processor of a search system includes a search results window operable to display a set of search results within a table that includes a plurality of sub-tables corresponding to a plurality of categories. Each sub-table represents at least one category and includes a respective subset of the set of search results. The GUI further includes a plurality of local control elements, where each local control element is associated with a respective sub-table of the plurality of sub-tables. Each local control element is accessible to a user to selectively sort the respective subset of the set of search results within the respective sub-table according to a user-selected local sort parameter without altering a sort order of respective subsets of the set of search results within other sub-tables of the plurality of sub-tables.