Touch Panel Display Area Segmentation for Mode Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of multi-functional image forming apparatuses face difficulty in finding necessary information when operational modes are switched, as screen images and information arrangements differ significantly across modes, leading to confusion and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A display device with a display control unit that divides the screen into multiple areas, maintaining consistent information arrangement and displaying similar information at the same positions across operational modes, allowing users to easily find required information even when the operational mode is changed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If screen images are switched for each operational mode, then functions can be set appropriately for each mode, but users cannot easily find necessary information when modes are changed
Solution Approach 1:
The display screen is divided into multiple distinct areas, each dedicated to specific information types. The first area displays preview information, the second area displays function selection information, and the third area displays operation result information. This segmentation allows each area to maintain its function across different operational modes while enabling users to quickly locate needed information without confusion from complete screen changes.
Solution Approach 2:
Different areas of the display screen are assigned specific display functions with consistent characteristics. The first area consistently shows preview information, the second area consistently shows function selection options, and the third area consistently shows operation results. This local quality consistency allows users to develop predictable search patterns across different operational modes.
2Loss of information
If complete screen images are changed for each operational mode, then mode-specific information can be displayed, but user confusion increases and operational efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The display is segmented into three functional areas that maintain consistent purposes across operational modes. This allows complete mode-specific information to be displayed while preventing user confusion through predictable information placement, thereby maintaining both information completeness and operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The display screen serves multiple functions simultaneously through its divided areas. The first area universally displays preview information across all modes, the second area universally displays function selection information, and the third area universally displays operation results. This multi-functionality approach allows the display to adapt to different operational modes while maintaining consistent user interaction patterns.
3Adaptability or versatility
If different information arrangements are used for each operational mode, then mode-specific functionality is optimized, but ease of finding information across modes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the display into fixed functional areas, the system achieves mode-specific optimization within each area while maintaining consistent information locations across modes. Users can quickly find preview information in the first area, function selections in the second area, and results in the third area regardless of the operational mode, eliminating information search time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
Each display area is assigned a specific quality characteristic (preview display, function selection display, or result display) that remains consistent across operational modes. This local quality consistency allows users to predict where to find specific information types, reducing information search time while still allowing mode-specific content to be displayed in each area.
Data Source
AI summary
On a touch-panel display of an image forming apparatus, pieces of information are displayed divided into five areas, that is, a system area, a function selecting area, a preview area, an action panel area and a task trigger area, of which arrangement is kept unchanged even when operational modes are switched. With such an arrangement, the same or similar pieces of information are displayed on an area arranged at the same position even in different operational modes.