Multi-mode viewer control for viewing and managing groups of statistics

Abstract

Methods, systems, and techniques for presenting performance indicators using numeric data and interpretive information are provided. Example embodiments provide a stat-pac viewer control that allows a user to toggle seamlessly between a numeric view of performance data and an interpreted view, the interpreted view presenting value judgments associated with the data. In one embodiment, the interpreted view is based at least in part upon one or more rules for interpreting the numeric data as belonging to one or more zones, each zone corresponding to a ring of an archery target representation. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to methods, systems, and techniques for presenting and managing data and, in particular, techniques for the viewing and management of groups of statistics using a user interface control adapted to same.

BACKGROUND

Oft times, users wish to view different types of data in comparison to other data. For example, managers who wish to view different aspects of a manufacturing process over time may wish to view a day's data along with last month's data. In addition, such users may invoke various statistical tools to help analyze the data, especially as it becomes large. One problem with many such tools is that they tend to be either graphical in nature or numeric. Also, many tools cannot be combined with other tools, and thus various “dashboards” or user interfaces may be used to present suites of different tools to users.

For example, such information may be presented to users using various types of graphical diagrams, such as using charts and graphs. In some cases, pie charts may be used to present a comparison of quantitative information by dividing a circle into multiple sections, with the relative size of each section reflecting a proportion of a corresponding quantity relative to the other quantities. In other cases, bar charts may be used to present a comparison of quantitative information with respect to a common metric (e.g., a amount of sales, costs, incidents, etc.) by using parallel bars of varying lengths, with the relative length of each bar corresponding to a relative quantity. Another form of bar chart is a Gantt chart, which may be used to present progress of a project with multiple tasks relative to time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

FIG. 1 is an example screen display that illustrates an example stat-pac viewer control used in an example context.

FIG. 2 is an example screen display that illustrates an example stat-pac viewer control in raw numeric view mode.

FIG. 3 is an example screen display that illustrates an example stat-pac viewer control in an interpreted view mode.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example interpretation rule for one of the statistics displayed in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates how different types of statistics can be mapped to interpreted values.

FIG. 6 illustrates different additional user interface controls that may be displayed in conjunction with an example stat-pac viewer control to control attributes of an example viewer when in raw numeric view mode.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example screen display of an example stat-pac viewer control with colored axes reflecting the corresponding interpreted view ranges.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example screen display of an example stat-pac viewer control with dot color and colored axis attributes enabled.

FIG. 9 illustrates a numeric view of an example stat-pac viewer control in comparison mode.

FIG. 10 illustrates an interpreted view of an example stat-pac viewer control in comparison mode.

FIG. 11 illustrates a group of example stat-pac viewer controls being displayed simultaneously.

FIG. 12 illustrates dot enhancements and other configuration attributes.

FIG. 13 is an example block diagram of an example computing system that may be used to practice embodiments of an example stat-pac viewer user interface control.

FIG. 14 is an example flow diagram of an example stat-pac viewer control in operation.

FIG. 15 is an example flow diagram of an example routine to display an embodiment of an example stat-pac viewer control in interpreted view mode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein provide enhanced computer- and network-based methods, systems, and techniques for organizing data into user accessible groups of statistics that can be displayed in a manner amenable to easy interpretive judgment without loss of numeric information. Example embodiments provide a statistics viewer user interface control referred to as a stat-pac viewer or stat-pac viewer control, which enables users to define one or more groups of statistics and to illustrate the data values of the respective statistics against defined interpretive rules for quick perusal and/or judgment of performance. In overview, the stat-pac viewer control provides a raw data mode and an interpreted data mode which can be used together to aid users in understanding the significance of raw data without a lot of additional information.

The stat-pac viewer control is a user interface control that allows users to simultaneously view statistics (“stats”) in groups of one or more stats. A user can elect to view the stats as raw numerical measurements or in an interpreted mode where each raw measurement has been pre-judged relative to a scale, for example, from good to bad. A predefined judgment rule is used to convert a raw numerical measurement to an interpreted value (e.g., a good-bad scale value). The interpreted mode has the advantage that the user need not be familiar with the details of the measurement to know if a displayed value is good or bad; the user can observe this directly from the displayed graphic. The user is also able to see a visual representation of the judgment rule that was used to convert the measurement from the numeric scale to the good-bad scale. Viewing a group of stats in the interpreted mode also has the advantage that the stats can be viewed simultaneously against the same good-to-bad axis to compare stats relative to each other.

In a typical embodiment, the stat-pac viewer control can be used with additional user interface controls that help a user choose a particular time-period and a particular stat-pac (i.e., a group of statistics) to view. FIG. 1 is an example screen display that illustrates an example stat-pac viewer control used in an example context. The stat-pac viewer control 101 can also be used in other contexts and with other types of user interface controls. In the illustrated example, the user has chosen “February 2007” using the period selector 102 as the period of interest and the “company” stat-pac using the stat-pac selector 103. The stats displayed by stat-pac viewer control 101 are the company's key performance indicators, such as safety, foundry production, on-time delivery, material waste, and profit margin. The stat labels 105 depict the various stats displayed by the stat-pac viewer control 101. Each data-dot 104 shows the current value of the stat shown in each column that corresponds to the current period selected by period selector 102.

Other stat-pacs are available covering more detailed and other aspects of performance. It is often useful to be able to look at a group of stats all at once, since performance is seldom a matter of just a single measurement. The group view shown by a stat-pac viewer control gives a more complete picture than that available with a single statistic. The stat-pac viewer control 101 in FIG. 1 shows 5 stats in the stat-pac; however, the stat-pac viewer control can be configured to accommodate stat-pacs of any number. In a typical embodiment, 1 to 8 stats can be accommodated. In the illustrated example, stat-pac viewer control 101 is shown in raw numerical view mode as described elsewhere; however, in other embodiments, the stat-pac viewer control 101 may alternatively be shown in interpreted mode.

FIG. 2 is an example screen display that illustrates an example stat-pac viewer control in raw numeric view mode. The stat-pac viewer control 200 is a close-up view of the stat-pac viewer control 101 described with reference to FIG. 1. The stat-pac viewer control 200 shown in FIG. 2 includes one or more stats (here 5), with their respective raw value 201, unit indicator 202, data-dot (also referred to as “dot”) 203 which represents the raw value 201 shown on an axis, and a stat title 204. Other embodiments of a stat-pac viewer control may have different or additional aspects displayed.

Notice that each statistic has its own vertical axis and that the scale from axis to axis varies according to the raw numeric range of the statistic. Displaying the individual stats in a similar manner makes it easier for the user to read/interpret the group. Each vertical axis is typically numbered from low to high. In numeric view, it can be difficult to tell at a glance which data-dots are showing “good” values and which are showing “bad” values, unless one understands the raw numeric data without more information. Notably, it may be difficult to tell immediately whether the top of the scale is good or bad, as this may vary from statistic to statistic. For example, for the “on-time delivery” stat, the higher the value the better; but for the “scrap” stat, the lower the value the better. In contrast to the numeric view, the interpreted view makes it easier to see the good and bad aspects of the stats at a glance. The view shown in FIG. 2 illustrates a view of stats for a specific month (e.g., February, 2007), but similar views can be displayed for a year, quarter, week, day, hour etc., depending upon the period selected by a user, or otherwise designated (for example, as a default by a software program using the control). Although the stats shown in this example are related to a time period, they could be also related to other ranges.

FIG. 3 is an example screen display that illustrates an example stat-pac viewer control in an interpreted view mode. In a typical embodiment, a user can easily switch between numeric and interpreted views by using a button control, toggle, etc. In the interpreted view, the stats are displayed according to a judgment scale of some nature, such as a “good-bad” value scale. Accordingly, someone or some system has made a previous judgment (interpretation) about how the raw numeric values should be translated to the judged (e.g., good-bad) values that are displayed in FIG. 3.

The stat-pac viewer control 300 shown in FIG. 3 includes one or more stats (here 5) labeled by sector labels 301, with their respective stat title 302, raw value 303, unit indicator 304, and a data-dot (also referred to as “dot”) 305 which represents the raw value 303 shown within a zone on an interpreted scale. Other embodiments of a stat-pac viewer control when displayed in interpreted view mode may have different or additional aspects shown.

In the interpreted view, all of the stats are shown against the same (a shared) good-bad scale, good (or otherwise desirable value) being displayed towards the center of the target. The colored bands represent zones along the good-bad scale. Accordingly, data-dots in zones closer to the center show a “better” value than those further away. Notice that the stat's raw numeric value 303 is displayed within the stat's sector label 301 so that the viewer can simultaneously view the raw data with its interpreted value.

In FIG. 3, the stats are depicted against an archery target image with its standard 5 zones and standard 5 colors. An archery target metaphor is used because the symbol is a familiar visual object that people likely have seen before and can likely immediately recognize. People who know what an archery target represents will intuitively grasp that values towards the center are better than values displayed in the outer rings. Thus, the interpreted view of a stat-pac viewer control displays statistics as part of a scoreboard that makes it easy for people to understand at a glance how well things are going. The interpreted view attempts to make it easy, even for someone unfamiliar with a particular statistic, to tell whether it was a good period or a bad period by simply glancing at the target. Even for someone familiar with the particular statistic, the interpreted view conveys the significance of the data being displayed.

Additional information may also be displayed relative to the target symbol. For example, the zones (rings) of the target can be labeled. An example of zone labeling from the center toward the outside is: outstanding, excellent, good, fair, and poor. The number of zones and the colors assigned to each can be set differently as desired. In addition, image backgrounds other than the illustrated target symbol may be used with the interpreted view. For example, one could configure the background to be a rectangle with colored horizontal bands, or to be different images or symbols that use other metaphors.

In some situations, some stats in a stat-pac may not be amenable to display in an interpreted view, in which case raw numeric values are displayed in their corresponding sector labels but no interpreted data-dots are plotted in the respective sectors.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example interpretation rule for one of the statistics displayed in FIG. 3. The graph in FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the raw numeric view of the on-time delivery stat and the interpreted view of the same stat. A person or computer program familiar with the stat can set the ranges for each zone of the interpreted view. For example, a company work group might use its judgment to set the different ranges for the stat as part of its goal setting for the year. Using this graph (or any representation thereof, any raw numeric value can be mapped to its interpreted value automatically. Interpretation rules may be encoded or stored in a variety of ways, including as functions yielding scalar outputs, business rules attached to database objects, graphs, lookup tables, etc.

FIG. 5 shows how different types of statistics can be mapped to interpreted values. In particular, FIG. 5 demonstrates four basic types of stats: stats in which higher numbers are better (for example, graph 501); stats in which lower numbers are better (for example, graph 502); stats in which numbers somewhere in between are better (for example, graph 503); and stats in which numbers somewhere in between are worse (for example, graph 504). Notice that for the “good in the middle” and “bad in the middle” type of stats there are two zones marked “+” and “−” depending on which side of the “hill” or “valley” the raw numeric value resides. These flags may be used in association with the data dots in the interpreted view to indicate to the user which side of the hill or valley the value lies.

FIG. 6 illustrates different additional user interface controls that may be displayed in conjunction with an example stat-pac viewer control to control attributes of an example view displayed in raw numeric view mode. The mode toggle button 601 is used to select between raw numeric view mode and interpreted view mode. In some embodiments, while in the raw numeric view, the user can elect to present the data-dots in color by toggling on the dot color toggle button 602, where a dot's color is the same as the color of its respective interpreted zone (where the dot falls among the interpreted ranges). Showing the color potentially makes it easier for the user to quickly interpret the data, especially if the user is toggling between both views.

Also, in some embodiments, in the raw numeric view, the user can elect to present the interpretation ranges on the vertical axis. By pressing the axis color toggle button 603, the color ranges from the interpreted view mode are superimposed upon the displayed statistics. FIG. 7 illustrates an example screen display of an example stat-pac viewer control with colored axes reflecting the corresponding interpreted view ranges. This mode makes it easy for the user to see exactly how the two views (numeric and interpreted) of a statistic are related.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example screen display of an example stat-pac viewer control with dot color and colored axis attributes enabled. In FIG. 8, the dot color and axis color have been turned on to show both the dots and vertical axes in the colors that correspond to the interpreted view. The user can choose the configuration that best reflects what he or she is interested in.

In some embodiments, a comparison feature is available that allows a user to compare statistical values from one time period with those of another. FIG. 9 illustrates a raw numeric view of several stats in a comparison between a single month (a focus period) and a year (a “compared-to” period). The colored lines along the axes represent the compared-to values. Using the comparison feature, a user can judge where the value of the focus period occurs relative to the compared-to period. FIG. 10 illustrates an interpreted view of the same stats in a comparison between the same month and same year. In one embodiment, a user can place the stat-pac viewer control into a comparison mode by clicking on a mode toggle button (e.g., mode toggle button 601 in FIG. 6) and then selecting a “compared-to” period (not shown) using an indicator from a period selector control (e.g., using the period selector control 102 in FIG. 1). In one embodiment, the values for the original (focus) period are shown with different shapes, colors, or other indications than the values for the compared-to period. For example, in FIGS. 9 and 10 the values from the compared-to period display as square data-dots, while the values for the focus period continue to display as round data dots. Further, in one example embodiment, the length of the colored line that connects a round data dot (associated with a focus period) with its corresponding square data dot (associated with the compared-to period) represents the difference in value whereas the color of the line represents whether the change was for good or for bad. For example, in the illustration of FIG. 9, cyan represents a good change and magenta a bad change. From the visual feedback, the user is able to focus on the lines lengths and colors to get a quick impression of the differences between the two periods. Other indicators for differences in value and for indicating judgment can be similarly incorporated. Note that in comparison mode, the user can still elect to view the raw numeric view dots and/or axes in color.

In addition to displaying data, the stat-pac viewer control can also be used as a navigational device to assist the user in navigating to additional information presented in other software components. In some embodiments, for example where the stat-pac viewer control is deployed within a larger system having other components, the stat-pac viewer control can broadcast events to other components (related or not to the stat-pac viewer control) that may be listening for events. For example, when a user clicks on a dot (e.g., data-dot 203 or 305) or its associated axis, a dot selected event can be broadcast. As another example, when a user clicks on a stat title box (e.g., stat title 204 or 302), a stat selected event can be broadcast. The dot-selected event could be used to trigger another component to display additional information about the dot and its value. For example, for the “on-time delivery percent” stat, the additional information could be the total number of shipments in the period and the number of on-time and late shipments. In addition, the user could be presented with a list of available reports such as one that displays a data-grid style listing of the late shipments during the period. The stat-selected event could be used to trigger another component that would give a time history of the stat, or provide a statement of the strategies being used to control the stat and a period by period analysis of the performance of the stat. Other uses of these events or of other events similarly generated could also be similarly incorporated.

FIG. 11 illustrates a group of stat-pac viewer controls being displayed simultaneously on, for example, the same display screen. Such a grouping is referred to as a “stat board.” Stat boards give users an even broader view of data by allowing them to view multiple statistical groups at the same time. All of the functionality of the individual stat-pac viewer controls can be applied to the stat board, i.e., the user can toggle between raw numeric and interpreted mode, toggle data-dot or axis color on and off, use comparison mode, etc. In addition, in some embodiments, a user can apply a filter in the interpreted view to select which color dots to display. This could be used, for example, to focus on a particular attribute, such as all those statistics associated with “poor” performance. For example, in the views displayed in FIG. 11, the user could select to only display dots in the white zones in order to cut down on distracting screen clutter.

The examples discussed demonstrated data-dots as either colored squares or circles. Of note, data-dots can be configured in many different ways to add additional or different meaning. For example, data-dots with hollow centers could be used to indicate that no data is available. Also, for example, dots can take on other shapes for other meanings. Other configurations include enhancements such as coloring the rim around a data-dot and flagging data-dots with a color, icon, shape, graphic, etc. to signify particular properties. In some embodiments, a character may be placed in the center of the dot to indicate that additional information is available. For example, a “C” could be used to indicate that there is a comment about this particular data-dot, and the user can access the comment by clicking on the data-dot. FIG. 12 illustrates some of these dot enhancements and other configuration attributes. These enhancements are exemplary and are not meant to be exclusive.

FIG. 13 is an example block diagram of an example computing system that may be used to practice embodiments of an example stat-pac viewer user interface control as described herein. Note that a general purpose or a special purpose computing system suitably instructed to perform the functions and behaviors described herein may be used to implement a stat-pac viewer control. Further, the stat-pac viewer control may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or in some combination to achieve the capabilities described herein. In a typical embodiment, the stat-pac viewer control is implemented by or used by one or more other code modules as a data display, organization, management, and navigation tool. In some embodiments, the stat-pac viewer control may support an application programming interface (“API”) to communicate with an instance of a stat-pac viewer control. Also, in some embodiments, the stat-pac viewer control may communicate with other modules and/or code logic using events or messages as described above.

A computing system 1300 used to implement a stat-pac viewer control may comprise one or more server and/or client computing systems and may span distributed locations. In addition, each block shown may represent one or more such blocks as appropriate to a specific embodiment or may be combined with other blocks. Moreover, the various blocks of the application or other code module or logic 1310 incorporating a stat-pac viewer control may physically reside on one or more machines, which use standard (e.g., TCP/IP) or proprietary interprocess communication mechanisms to communicate with each other.

In the embodiment shown, computer system 1300 comprises a computer memory (“memory”) 1301, a display 1302, one or more Central Processing Units (“CPU”) 1303, Input/Output devices 1304 (e.g., keyboard, mouse, CRT or LCD display, etc.), other computer-readable media 1305, and one or more network connections 1306. An example application (code module or other programming logic) 1310 that incorporates one or more stat-pac viewer controls is shown residing in memory 1301. In other embodiments, some portion of the contents, some of, or all of the components of the application 1310 or the stat-pac viewer 1312 may be stored on or transmitted over the other computer-readable media 1305. The components of the application 1310, including the code used to implement the stat-pac viewer preferably execute on one or more CPUs 1303 and manage the presentation of statistical data, as described herein. Other code or programs 1330 and potentially other data repositories, such as data repository 1320, also reside in the memory 1310, and preferably execute on one or more CPUs 1303. Of note, one or more of the components in FIG. 13 may not be present in any specific implementation.

In a typical embodiment, the application 1310 includes one or more components including the application logic 1311 and data 1315 used to implement a stat-pac viewer 1312. Other and/or different components (and/or modules) 1313 may be implemented. In addition, components of the application 1310 may interact via a network 1350 with application or client code 1355, one or more client computing systems 1360, and/or one or more data provider systems 1365, for example, to supply the data presented in the statistics illustrated by the stat-pac viewer 1312. Also, of note, one or more data repositories 1315 that contains the source data used to generate statistics displayed by the stat-pac viewer 1312 may be provided external to the stat-pac viewer 1312, for example in a knowledge base accessible over one or more networks 1350.

In an example embodiment, the logic of the stat-pac viewer 1312 is implemented using standard programming techniques. However, a range of programming languages known in the art may be employed for implementing such example embodiments, including representative implementations of various programming language paradigms, including but not limited to, object-oriented (e.g., Java, C++, C#, Smalltalk, etc.), functional (e.g., ML, Lisp, Scheme, etc.), procedural (e.g., C, Pascal, Ada, Modula, etc.), scripting (e.g., Perl, Ruby, Python, JavaScript, VBScript, etc.), declarative (e.g., SQL, Prolog, etc.), etc.

The embodiments described above may also use well-known or proprietary synchronous or asynchronous client-server computing techniques. However, the various components may be implemented using more monolithic programming techniques as well, for example, as an executable running on a single CPU computer system, or alternately decomposed using a variety of structuring techniques known in the art, including but not limited to, multiprogramming, multithreading, client-server, or peer-to-peer, running on one or more computer systems each having one or more CPUs. Some embodiments are illustrated as executing concurrently and asynchronously and communicating using message passing techniques. Equivalent synchronous embodiments may also be supported.

In addition, programming interfaces 1317 to the stat-pac viewer 1312 can be made available by standard means such as through C, C++, C#, and Java APIs; libraries for accessing files, databases, or other data repositories; through scripting languages such as XML; or through Web servers, FTP servers, or other types of servers providing access to stored data. The data repositories 1315 and 1320 may be implemented as one or more database systems, file systems, or any other method known in the art for storing such information, or any combination of the above, including implementation using distributed computing techniques.

Also the example application 1310 may be implemented in a distributed environment comprising multiple, even heterogeneous, computer systems and networks. For example, in one embodiment, some or all of the application logic 1311, the stat-pac viewer 1312, the stat-pac viewer API 1317, the other components 1313 and the data repository 1315 are located in physically different computer systems. In another embodiment, various modules of the application 1310 are hosted each on a separate server machine. Also, one or more of the modules may themselves be distributed, pooled or otherwise grouped, such as for load balancing, reliability or security reasons. Different configurations and locations of programs and data are contemplated for use with techniques of described herein. A variety of distributed computing techniques are appropriate for implementing the components of the illustrated embodiments in a distributed manner including but not limited to TCP/IP sockets, RPC, RMI, HTTP, Web Services (XML-RPC, JAX-RPC, SOAP, etc.) etc. Other variations are possible. Also, other functionality could be provided by each component/module, or existing functionality could be distributed amongst the components/modules in different ways, yet still achieve the functions of a stat-pac viewer controller.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, some or all of the logic of the stat-pac viewer 1312 may be implemented or provided in other manners, such as at least partially in firmware and/or hardware, including, but not limited to one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), standard integrated circuits, controllers (e.g., by executing appropriate instructions, and including microcontrollers and/or embedded controllers), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), etc. Some or all of the programming logic and/or data structures may also be stored as contents (e.g., as executable or other machine-readable software instructions or structured data) on a computer-readable medium (e.g., a hard disk; a memory; a computer network or cellular wireless network or other data transmission medium; or a portable media article to be read by an appropriate drive or via an appropriate connection such as a DVD or flash memory device) so as to enable or configure the computer-readable medium and/or one or more associated computing systems or devices to execute or otherwise use or provide the contents to perform at least some of the described techniques. Some or all of the logic and data structures may also be transmitted as contents of generated data signals (e.g., as part of a carrier wave or otherwise included as part of an analog or digital propagated signal) on a variety of computer-readable transmission mediums, such as medial 305, including wireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums, and may take a variety of forms (e.g., as part of a single or multiplexed analog signal, or as multiple discrete digital packets or frames). Such computer program products may also take other forms in other embodiments. Accordingly, embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced with other computer system configurations.

FIG. 14 is an example flow diagram of an example stat-pac viewer control in operation. The stat-pac viewer control may be implemented, for example, by a stat-pac viewer 1312 shown in FIG. 13. In block 1401, the stat-pac viewer control presents for display a raw numeric view of a group of statistics (e.g., the numeric view mode described with respect to FIG. 2 and elsewhere). In block 1402, an indication is received to toggle the view from the numeric view to an interpreted view. For example, in some embodiments, a user may interact with a mode toggle control displayed with the stat-pac viewer control to place the viewer into an interpreted view mode (e.g., mode toggle button 601 in FIG. 6). After the indication is received, the stat-pac viewer control presents for display an interpreted view of the group of statistics (e.g., the interpreted view mode described with respect to FIG. 3 and elsewhere), in block 1403. In block 1404, the stat-pac viewer control optionally performs other operations, and continues to block 1405 to determine whether to continue. If it is determined at block 1405 to continue, the viewer control returns to block 1401, or, if not, ends. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the stat-pac viewer control of FIG. 14 may instead or in addition toggle a stat-pac viewer control from an interpreted view to a numeric view, such as after receiving an indication from a user to do so.

FIG. 15 is an example flow diagram of an example routine to display a stat-pac viewer control in interpreted view mode. The example routine may, for example, be executed in block 1403 of FIG. 14. In block 1501, the routine determines a plurality of statistics (e.g., performance related indicators, etc.). In block 1502, the routine displays a representation of an interpreted view background, such as an archery target having a number of rings that each correspond to one or more interpretive zones (e.g., zones corresponding to a range of different value judgments, such as from good to bad), as described elsewhere. For example, the interpretive zones may each be associated with a unique visual characteristic that is used to display the ring (e.g., a color). In blocks 1503-1506, the routine executes a loop to process each statistic for display on the interpreted view background. Specifically, in block 1503, the routine gets a next statistic to display from the plurality of determined statistics, and in block 1504 determines whether there are any more statistics to process. If there are no more statistics available to process, the routine ends, otherwise the routine continues to block 1505. In block 1505, the routine determines an interpretive zone that corresponds to a numeric value of the current statistic being processed. In block 1506, the routine displays a symbolic representation (e.g., a dot and/or other indicator as described elsewhere) of the numeric value of the statistic within a ring (or other indication) corresponding to the determined interpretive zone. After block 1506, the routine continues to block 1503 to get the next statistic for display.

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet, including but not limited to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/009,960, entitled “Method and System for Viewing and Managing Groups of Statistics Using a Multi-Mode Viewer Control,” filed Jan. 3, 2008; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/010,122, entitled “Multi-mode Viewer Control for Viewing a Series of Statistical Values,” filed Jan. 4, 2008; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/009,991, entitled “Nesting Navigator User Interface Control,” filed Jan. 4, 2008, are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the methods, systems, and techniques for presenting performance indicators using numeric data and interpretive information discussed herein are applicable to other architectures. Also, the methods and systems discussed herein are applicable to differing protocols, communication media (optical, wireless, cable, etc.) and devices (such as wireless handsets, electronic organizers, personal digital assistants, portable email machines, game machines, pagers, navigation devices such as GPS receivers, etc.).

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying statistical data on a display screen, comprising:

determining a plurality of statistics and their corresponding numeric values;

under control of a computing system, displaying a representation of an archery target having one or more rings emanating outward from the center of the target, each ring corresponding with at least one of one or more interpretive zones, each interpretive zone associated with a unique visual characteristic that is used to display the corresponding ring; for each determined statistic, determining at least one of the one or more interpretive zones to associate with the numeric value that corresponds to the determined statistic, based at least in part on one or more interpretation rules that associate one or more ranges of numeric values with at least one of the one or more interpretive zones; and displaying on the display screen a symbolic representation of the numeric value on the displayed representation of the archery target within the ring that is associated with the determined one or more interpretive zones associated with the numeric value, simultaneously with the numeric value.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the symbolic representation of the numeric value is a dot.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the symbolic representation of the numeric value is displayed with auxiliary notations.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more interpretive zones designate five different value judgments of the ranges of numeric values.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the unique visual characteristic that is used to display a corresponding ring is a color.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the colors are yellow, red, blue, black, and white.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the rings represent ranges of numeric values from the center outward that are characterized from good to bad.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the determined plurality of statistics are associated with a first period of time.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

determining a second plurality of comparative statistics associated with a second period of time; and

superimposing a symbolic representation of each of the determined second plurality of comparative statistics on the displayed representation of the archery target such that each numeric value associated with the first period of time is displayed relative to a numeric value associated with the second period of time.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of statistics are performance related indicators.

11. A computer-readable storage medium containing contents that when executed cause a computer processor to present a user interface control to display statistical information, by performing a method comprising:

presenting a numeric view that displays one or more numeric values, each corresponding to one of a plurality of performance measurements and each associated with an interpretation zone indicative of a judgment associated with the numeric value; and

in response to receiving an indication to toggle the view to an interpreted view, presenting an interpreted view of the plurality of performance measurements, the interpreted view representing each corresponding numeric value as a symbol on a visual representation of the interpretation zone associated with the corresponding numeric value along with a numeric representation of the numeric value.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 wherein the visual representation of the interpretation zone is a graphical representation of an archery target.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 wherein the presented numeric view displays each numeric value in a color associated with the interpretation zone associated with the numeric value.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, the method further comprising:

presenting a superimposition of a second plurality of statistics for comparison to the presented view.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 wherein the medium is a computer memory containing instructions that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform the method.

16. A display device for displaying a visual representation of a data structure stored in memory, the visual representation including a plurality of performance indicators, each performance indicator displaying an associated graph and a data round placed on the graph according to a respective numeric value of the performance indicator, and at least one indication of a control that is selectable by a user to show an interpreted representation of the respective numeric value of each performance indicator, such that a user, by selecting the indication of the control, can simultaneously display numeric information associated with each performance indicator along with interpretive information in the form of an archery target.

17. The display device of claim 16 wherein each data round is displayed in a color that represents interpretive information that corresponds to the respective numeric value of each performance indicator.

18. The display device of claim 16 wherein the data structure represents a user interface control.

19. The display device of claim 16 wherein the at least one indication of a control that is selectable by a user is an indicator used to toggle between a numeric view and an interpreted view.

20. The display device of claim 16 wherein the interpretive information in the form of an archery target comprises a plurality of rings that each represent a value judgment of a range of numeric values, and wherein the interpreted representation of the respective numeric value of each performance indicator is a data dot placed on a ring that corresponds to the range of numeric values that includes the respective numeric value.