Tile-Based Interface for Application Change Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users face inefficiencies in determining new content across applications, leading to wasted time and resources as they launch and navigate through applications to find updates, often without finding new information.

Innovation Solution

A user interface featuring tiles that display changes to applications, allowing users to view content updates without launching the application, enabling quick assessment of new content and decision on whether to visit the application.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If users launch applications to check for new content, then they can view application content, but it takes significant time and effort and expends computing and bandwidth resources

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenew content detectionVSAvoidtime to check applications

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a user interface intermediary (the tile-based interface) between the user and the applications. This intermediary presents summarized information about application changes without requiring the user to launch the full applications, thus reducing time and resource expenditure while still enabling new content detection

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts only the essential information about application changes (new content indicators) from the full application content and presents it through tiles in the user interface. This extraction allows users to check for updates without loading the complete application, reducing time and computational resources

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Loss of information

If users launch applications to find new content, then they can access application functionality, but computing and bandwidth resources are wasted

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveapplication update awarenessVSAvoidcomputing and bandwidth resources

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The tile-based user interface acts as an intermediary that provides application update information without requiring full application launch. This reduces computing and bandwidth resource consumption while maintaining user awareness of application changes

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of requiring users to launch the complete application (full action), the system provides partial information through tiles showing only the essential update indicators. This partial action approach reduces resource expenditure while still satisfying the user's need to know about updates

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Ease of operation

If users select application icons to launch applications, then they can access full application content, but it is inefficient when no new content exists

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveapplication accessVSAvoidcontent checking efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by pre-generating and displaying tiles that summarize application changes before the user decides to launch the application. This allows users to assess whether the application contains new content beforehand, improving efficiency while maintaining ease of access to full applications when needed

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS9229918B2Presenting an application change through a tile

Publication Date: 2016.01.05 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

This document describes techniques and apparatuses for presenting an application change through a tile. These techniques enable a user to see content associated with content changes to an application or other information about the application, such as a new article, new email, or a software update having become available since a user last visited the application. By so doing, the techniques enable a user to forgo visiting the application or permit the user to quickly and easily decide whether or not to visit the application.