Touchscreen Hyperlink Proximity Selection Interface
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Solution Overview
Problem
The small screen size of portable electronic devices makes it difficult for users to easily perceive and navigate hyperlinks, leading to a cumbersome web browsing experience.
Innovation Solution
A user interface that displays content with multiple links on a touch screen, where a user can detect contact with their finger, determine a point within the contact area, and choose a link based on proximity, displaying information associated with the link, such as URL or title, to facilitate easier selection and activation of hyperlinks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If web browsing is implemented on portable devices with small screens, then users can access the web without desktop or laptop computers, but hyperlink perception and navigation become difficult and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to hyperlink interaction by displaying link information dynamically as the user's finger moves across the screen. Instead of requiring users to precisely locate and tap small hyperlinks on a 2D screen, the system provides link information along the time axis as the finger traverses the contact area, transforming a spatial precision problem into a temporal information flow problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces finger contact area as an intermediary between the user and the hyperlink selection process. Rather than directly tapping small hyperlinks, the user's finger creates a contact area that serves as a mediator, and the system determines which hyperlink corresponds to the contact area or its centroid, making selection more intuitive and less precision-critical.
2Loss of information
If link information is displayed on small screens, then users can see hyperlink details, but the amount of information that can be displayed is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by determining which hyperlink corresponds to the finger contact area before the user completes their selection. The system proactively identifies the target hyperlink based on the contact area or centroid and prepares to display its information, reducing the cognitive load and time required for users to locate and select links.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic information display where the hyperlink information changes in real-time as the user's finger moves across the screen. The displayed information is not static but updates dynamically based on the current finger position and corresponding hyperlink, allowing users to scan through multiple link options as they move their finger without needing to manually navigate or scroll through information.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and graphical user interfaces for displaying hyperlink information are disclosed. In one embodiment, a portable electronic device with a touch screen display: displays content on the touch screen display, wherein the content includes a plurality of links to additional content; detects a contact by a finger with the touch screen display, wherein the contact includes an area of contact; determines a point within the area of contact; choosing a first link in the plurality of links based on proximity of the first link to the determined point; and displays information associated with the first link over the displayed content, wherein the information associated with the first link includes information other than anchor text of the first link.