System Level Search Interface for Multi-Application Data Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties in finding specific electronic data due to the need to access multiple applications, navigate to search interfaces, and enter the same search terms in each application, resulting in a cumbersome experience.
Innovation Solution
A system-level search user interface is introduced, allowing users to input a search term once and select multiple applications to search for it, with the interface displaying identifiers of searchable applications and maintaining its display while search results are generated by the selected applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users access multiple applications to search for electronic data, then search coverage is improved, but user operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple application search interfaces into a single system-level search interface. This unified interface allows users to search across multiple applications simultaneously by entering one search term, eliminating the need to manually access each application's search function separately.
Solution Approach 2:
The system-level search interface serves as a universal search tool that can query multiple different applications through a single interface. This multi-functional approach allows one search interface to perform the work of many individual application search interfaces, improving both search coverage and ease of operation.
2Reliability
If users manually navigate to each application's search interface, then search completeness is improved, but time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically launching and coordinating multiple application search operations when the user submits a single search term. The system-level search interface pre-configures the search across all relevant applications simultaneously, eliminating the need for users to manually navigate through each application.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple search operations across different applications are merged into a single coordinated action. When a user enters a search term in the system-level interface, the system combines the search efforts of multiple applications into one unified search process, maintaining search completeness while dramatically reducing time consumption.
3Reliability
If users enter the same search term in multiple applications, then data retrieval thoroughness is improved, but user effort increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system-level search interface provides a universal search capability that automatically distributes the single user-entered search term to multiple applications. This multi-functional interface eliminates redundant user effort while maintaining thorough data retrieval across all relevant applications through one unified search action.
Data Source
AI summary
A system level search user interface that includes both a data entry portion and an application identification portion is displayed. User data input as a search term is displayed in the data entry portion, and identifiers of each of one or more applications of multiple applications on the computing device that can be searched using the search term are displayed in the application identification portion. The search term is provided to one application of the multiple applications for that one application to generate and display search results based on the search term while the display of at least the data entry portion of the system level search user interface is maintained.