Tabulated Data Selection on Touchscreen Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable communication devices, such as smartphones and tablets, present a cumbersome user experience for selecting tabulated data due to their touchscreen interfaces, which are less efficient than traditional keyboard and mouse combinations, especially when dealing with complex data manipulations like spreadsheet operations.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method that reduces user interaction by displaying a tabulated data structure, allowing users to select related data fields based on a single input, generating sets of data fields sharing relationships with the selected field, and highlighting these sets for easy selection, using similarity scores based on attributes like position, type, and value.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional touchscreen interaction methods are used for selecting tabulated data, then the device can be operated with a touchscreen interface, but the user interaction becomes cumbersome and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically identifying and highlighting related data fields before the user completes their selection. When a user selects or touches a data field, the system proactively searches for and highlights related fields (such as fields in the same row, column, or with similar attributes) before the user needs to manually select each one, thereby reducing the complexity of the selection process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary mechanism (automatic field identification and highlighting) between the user's initial selection and the final data set selection. This intermediary process analyzes the tabulated data structure, determines relationships between fields, and presents highlighted suggestions to the user, simplifying the overall selection task without requiring direct manual selection of each field.
2Productivity
If manual selection of each data field is required, then precise data selection is possible, but the time and interaction required increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the time-consuming field identification and relationship analysis in advance, automatically generating a set of related fields when the user makes an initial selection. This preliminary action eliminates the need for users to manually navigate and select each field individually, significantly improving productivity while reducing the time required for data selection tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system serves itself by automatically identifying and presenting related data fields without requiring continuous user input or manual navigation. Once the user makes an initial selection, the system independently analyzes the data structure, determines field relationships, and presents the complete set of related fields for selection, allowing the user to complete the task with minimal time investment.
3Adaptability or versatility
If touchscreen interface is used for spreadsheet operations, then portability is maintained, but the user experience deteriorates compared to keyboard and mouse
Solution Approach 1:
The system compensates for the limitations of touchscreen interaction by performing preliminary field identification and relationship analysis automatically. This reduces the number of touch interactions required and eliminates the need for precise manual selection of multiple fields, thereby improving ease of operation while maintaining the portability benefits of touchscreen devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary layer that translates a single touchscreen selection into a comprehensive data field set. This intermediary process analyzes relationships between fields and presents highlighted suggestions, bridging the gap between simple touchscreen interaction and complex data manipulation tasks, thereby improving user experience without sacrificing portability.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method, system, and program product for selecting tabulated data are provided, which include: displaying a tabulated data structure on a computer display, the tabulated data structure including a plurality of data fields; receiving a user input indicative of a selection of one of the data fields; searching the tabulated data structure to generate at least one set of data fields, the data fields in each set sharing a relationship with the user-selected data field; and highlighting the at least one set of data fields in the displayed tabulated data structure, in which each of the highlighted sets of data fields is user-selectable.