Touch UI Overlay for Faster Access to Frequent App Functions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic devices with touch-sensitive surfaces face inefficiencies in accessing prevalent device functions, requiring users to navigate through multiple menus and drill down sequences, which is time-consuming and cumbersome, especially for battery-operated devices.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of advanced user interfaces and methods that reduce the number of inputs needed to access device functions, utilizing haptic feedback and dynamic intensity thresholds to streamline interactions, allowing for faster and more efficient access to application features and settings on devices like portable multifunction devices with touch-sensitive displays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional drill down menus and multi-step navigation are used to access device functions, then comprehensive control options are available, but user interaction time and cognitive burden increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a quick settings panel that pre-loads and displays frequently used device controls in an accessible location, allowing users to access common functions without navigating through multiple menu levels. This preliminary preparation of control options eliminates the need for sequential menu drilling, directly reducing access time while maintaining comprehensive control availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a side panel or overlay interface that provides vertical or lateral access to device controls, moving away from traditional hierarchical horizontal menu navigation. This dimensional shift allows users to access controls in a single gesture or click rather than progressing through multiple nested menu levels, significantly reducing interaction steps and time.
2Ease of operation
If multiple menu levels and navigation steps are required to access device functions, then organized control structure is maintained, but user cognitive burden and interaction complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts frequently used device controls from the deep hierarchical menu structure and places them in a dedicated quick settings panel or overlay interface. This extraction creates a simplified access path for common functions while preserving the organized multi-level menu structure for less frequently accessed controls, effectively reducing interface complexity for daily operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the device control interface into multiple layers: a quick access panel for frequently used functions and the traditional hierarchical menu system for comprehensive control. This segmentation allows users to interact with only the necessary portion of the interface, reducing perceived complexity while maintaining complete functionality.
3Ease of operation
If extensive user input sequences are required to access device functions, then precise control is achieved, but power consumption increases on battery-operated devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-loads control options into a quick settings panel that remains accessible during device operation, eliminating the need to activate multiple menu levels and process sequences. This preliminary preparation reduces the number of computational steps required during user interaction, directly lowering instantaneous power consumption during control access operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
An electronic device displays a first user interface that includes a plurality of application icons that correspond to different applications of a plurality of applications installed on the device. The device detects a first input at a location on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to a first application icon of the plurality of application icons, the first application icon corresponding to a first application of the plurality of applications. In response to detecting the first input, the device displays a first mini application object or a preview of the first mini application object in an overlay region, where the first mini application object corresponds to a first application of the plurality of applications; and the overlay region includes an affordance for adding the first mini application object to a second user interface that displays a plurality of mini application objects. The device detects a second input at a location on the touch-sensitive surface that corresponds to the affordance for adding the first mini application object to the second user interface. In response to detecting the second input, the device adds the first mini application object to the second user interface that displays the plurality of mini application objects.