Tree View Tab Management for Hierarchical Web Content
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tab browsers face difficulties in helping users grasp and utilize the relationships between multiple web pages, especially as the number of pages increases, with existing solutions only enhancing user friendliness by displaying related web pages but not effectively supporting the selection and display of related tabs.
Innovation Solution
A display control method and apparatus that allows tabs to be displayed in a tree view, enabling additional content items to be added as child nodes of the current content item, facilitating the representation and selection of related content items through a parent-child relationship, and providing editing functions to manage the tree structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If tabs are displayed in a traditional linear arrangement, then the interface is simple, but users cannot easily grasp the hierarchical relationships between multiple web pages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the traditional linear tab arrangement into a tree view structure that adds hierarchical dimensionality. Tabs are organized into parent-child relationships where parent tabs represent broader categories and child tabs represent specific pages, enabling users to grasp hierarchical relationships while maintaining interface simplicity through familiar tree control patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the tab display into hierarchical groups where related tabs are organized under common parent nodes. This segmentation allows users to mentally group related web pages together, making it easier to understand relationships between pages while reducing the cognitive load of managing numerous individual tabs.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the number of tabs increases to display more web pages, then more content can be accessed, but users find it difficult to grasp relationships and select related tabs
Solution Approach 1:
By organizing tabs in a tree view with hierarchical dimensions, the patent enables users to navigate large numbers of tabs through parent-child relationships. Users can expand or collapse branches to focus on specific groups, making it easier to locate and select related tabs even when dozens of tabs are present, thereby maintaining ease of operation while increasing content access capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Parent tabs serve as intermediary elements that group and organize child tabs. When users need to access related web pages, they can interact with parent tabs to reveal or hide groups of child tabs, acting as a mediator that simplifies navigation through large numbers of tabs while preserving access to all content.
3Ease of operation
If only related web pages are displayed to enhance user friendliness, then the interface is cleaner, but the ability to select and display other related tabs is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic tab display where the visibility and accessibility of tabs are adjusted based on user interactions and current context. Related tabs can be automatically grouped and highlighted, while still allowing users to expand and access any tab in the hierarchy, thereby maintaining user friendliness through automatic organization while preserving full flexibility for selecting any tab when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus that is able to control a screen executes an area display step to display a tab display area and a content display area, a target display step that is able to display, in response to a display target tab being selected from one or more tabs, a display target content item associated with the display target tab in the content display area, and a tab adding step that is able to update, in response to a request to add an additional content item, the tab display area so as to display an additional tab associated with the additional content item, wherein the tab adding step is able to update the display of the tab display area such that the additional tab appears as a child node of the display target tab in the tree view.