Supplemental Services Interface With Integrated Program Guide Content
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing program guides and interfaces for multimedia content are inconvenient for users as they require separate navigation between different functionalities, making it difficult to access related content and services seamlessly.
Innovation Solution
Integrate supplemental services and content listings within the program guide interface, presenting them as additional channels or services associated with scheduled content, allowing users to access related experiences directly from the main interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If program guide and other interfaces are separated into different devices, then each interface can be optimized for its specific function, but user convenience deteriorates due to the need to move between interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate interfaces (program guide, web browser, app execution interface) into a single integrated device. The set-top box now provides program guide functionality, web browsing capability, and app execution all in one device, eliminating the need for users to switch between separate devices while maintaining the specialized functionality of each interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The set-top box is designed to perform multiple functions: it serves as a program guide, web browser, app execution platform, and content delivery interface. This multi-functional approach allows a single device to replace multiple specialized devices, improving user convenience without sacrificing the specific capabilities of each function.
2Ease of operation
If multiple services and content listings are integrated into one interface, then user convenience improves by reducing navigation steps, but interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated interface is segmented into distinct functional areas: program guide listings, web content areas, and app execution zones. Each service type is presented in its own designated space within the interface, allowing users to access multiple services without encountering a cluttered or confusing single monolithic interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface uses dimensional organization to present multiple services - program guide content, web pages, and apps are arranged in different spatial dimensions or layers within the display. This allows the interface to accommodate multiple services without increasing perceived complexity, as users can navigate between different dimensional spaces rather than dealing with a flat, overcrowded interface.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples are described for integrating interface functionality with other experiences. For example, if a user is interested in a particular item of scheduled or on-demand content (e.g., a television series episode), the user may also be interested in a web page devoted to the television series and/or other extras such as cast interviews, news, related theme apps, and the like. These types of experiences may be integrated into an interface by presenting the experiences as supplemental services that may be presented and/or selected.