Widget Grouping with Dynamic Resizing and Overlap
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic devices struggle to efficiently group and manage multiple widgets on a home screen, particularly in terms of size adjustment and overlap, leading to clutter and user interface inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device is provided with a method to identify movement of a widget to a widget group, and if the widget supports a size smaller than or equal to the widget group's size, it is resized and moved to overlap the widget group, optimizing the user interface by maintaining consistent sizing within the group.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If widgets are displayed separately or with overlap on the home screen, then users can access multiple functions quickly, but the home screen becomes cluttered and disorganized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent groups multiple widgets into a unified widget group structure, merging separate widget instances into a single organized container. This allows widgets to be accessed efficiently while maintaining home screen cleanliness by consolidating multiple widget elements into one grouped unit that can be managed collectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The widget group serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a container for multiple widgets, provides a unified selection interface, enables batch operations on grouped widgets, and maintains individual widget functionality. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by providing both quick access and organization through a single versatile structure.
2Ease of operation
If a widget is moved to a widget group, then the home screen remains organized, but the widget size must be adjusted to match the group size, limiting size flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic size adjustment where widgets automatically resize when added to or removed from a widget group. The widget size is not fixed but adapts based on its grouping state, allowing the same widget to have different sizes depending on whether it is grouped or standalone. This dynamic behavior maintains organization while preserving size flexibility through automatic adaptation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the size parameter of widgets based on their grouping status. When a widget is added to a widget group, its size parameter is automatically adjusted to match the group's size requirements. This parameter change enables the widget to fit seamlessly into the organized group structure while the system manages the transformation transparently.
3Area of stationary object
If multiple widgets are grouped together with overlap display, then space is efficiently utilized on the home screen, but it becomes difficult to distinguish and select individual widgets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs visual differentiation techniques where widgets within a group display distinct visual characteristics such as color variations, borders, or highlighting effects. This allows overlapping widgets to be visually distinguished from one another while maintaining their compact grouped arrangement, enabling both space efficiency and easy identification through visual cues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a visual representation or indicator that copies essential identification information from each widget and displays it in a distinguishable manner within the group. This allows users to identify individual widgets within the overlapping group by their visual indicators while maintaining the space-efficient grouped layout.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a display, memory storing one or more computer programs, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the display and the memory, wherein the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to, when identifying movement of a widget displayed on the display to a widget group, identify whether there is a size that is smaller than or equal to a first size corresponding to a size of the widget group from among at least one size supported by the widget, in case that there is a size smaller than or equal to the first size of the widget group among the at least one size supported by the widget, change the widget to the size smaller than or equal to the first size of the widget group, move the resized widget to the widget group, and display the resized widget to overlap the widget group.