Touch Screen UI Rearrangement for One-Hand Reachability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of digital portable terminals with larger touch screens face inconvenience due to areas that are unreachable with one hand, limiting their ability to interact with the interface effectively.
Innovation Solution
A method to determine a user-touchable area on the touch screen, referred to as a comfort zone, and rearrange User Interfaces (UIs) within this area to enhance usability for one-hand users, using a touch screen control apparatus that includes a comfort zone decider and UI layout converter to adjust the layout and positions of UIs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the touch screen size is increased to provide more display area, then the display capacity is improved, but the reachable area for one-hand users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the UI layout adaptable and changeable based on user interaction context. The system dynamically determines a comfort zone based on the current display content and user hand position, then rearranges UI elements within this zone. This allows the interface to transition between different layout configurations, optimizing both display area utilization and one-hand accessibility without requiring a fixed static layout.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by creating a differentiated comfort zone with enhanced UI element density and accessibility in the thumb-reachable area, while maintaining standard or reduced UI element density in unreachable areas. This allows different regions of the screen to have different functional qualities - the comfort zone prioritizes ease of operation with larger, more accessible UI elements, while other areas can maintain full display capacity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If UIs are arranged in a typical grid structure to maintain standard layout, then the layout consistency is improved, but the user convenience for one-hand operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the UI layout from a standard grid structure to a comfort zone-based arrangement when one-hand operation is detected. The layout transitions between static grid configuration and dynamic comfort zone configuration based on contextual needs, maintaining grid consistency when full-screen access is needed while switching to optimized comfort zone layout when one-hand operation is prioritized.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by maintaining standard grid layout in areas outside the comfort zone while implementing optimized UI arrangement within the comfort zone. This creates local variations in layout quality - the comfort zone receives enhanced attention with larger, more accessible UI elements arranged for thumb interaction, while other areas maintain the standard grid structure for overall consistency.
3Area of stationary object
If the touch screen provides full display area utilization, then the information capacity is improved, but the accessibility for unreachable areas deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the display area into a comfort zone and non-comfort zone based on one-hand accessibility analysis. The comfort zone is identified as the region reachable by the user's thumb when holding the device, while the remaining area constitutes the non-comfort zone. This segmentation allows the system to apply different interaction strategies - prioritizing accessibility within the comfort zone while maintaining full display utilization through the expanded screen real estate.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent addresses the accessibility limitation by introducing a temporal dimension - unreachable areas can still be accessed through gestures, swipes, or secondary interactions that extend beyond the immediate thumb-reachable zone. This allows the system to maintain full display area utilization while providing indirect access to non-comfort zone areas through multi-step interaction sequences.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2~3
Figure 4a
AI summary
A method and an apparatus of controlling a User Interfaces (UIs) using a touch screen are provided. The method includes displaying a menu item in a basic setting menu that is preset in a user device, the menu item being used to select rearrangement of UIs arranged in a display area of the touch screen in a user-touchable partial area, and displaying a rearranged screen displaying the UIs rearranged in the user-touchable partial area, upon sensing of a user touch input selecting the rearrangement of the UIs.