DIALOGS POSITIONED WITH ACTION VISUALIZATION

Abstract

Dialogs within a user interface. The user interface has one or more selectable elements, the selection of each of which initiating a corresponding action. Each time that any of the elements is selected, and a corresponding action initiated, there is the potential for the user interface to display a dialog associated with the initiated action. The dialogs are displayed so as to be positioned with respect to the element whose selection caused the corresponding action to be initiated.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of each of the following provisional patent applications, and each of the following provisional patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety:

1. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,128, filed Nov. 15, 2013;

2. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/884,743, filed Sep. 30, 2013;

3. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,111, filed Nov. 15, 2013;

4. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,243, filed Nov. 17, 2013;

5. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,114, filed Nov. 15, 2013;

6. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,116, filed Nov. 15, 2013;

7. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,129, filed Nov. 15, 2013;

8. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,105, filed Nov. 15, 2013;

9. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,247, filed Nov. 17, 2013;

10. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/905,101, filed Nov. 15, 2013; and

11. U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 61/905,119, filed Nov. 15, 2013.

BACKGROUND

A current paradigm for navigating through various information contexts is windows based. A classic example of this is the web browser experience. A user might begin with a home page that occupies the entire browser space. The user might then select a hyperlink, whereupon a new window appears. However, the previous window either disappears or, in the case of exercising an option to open the new page in a new window, the previous window is fully, or at least partially, hidden.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

SUMMARY

At least some embodiments described herein relate to dialogs within a user interface. The user interface has one or more selectable elements, the selection of each of which initiating a corresponding action. Each time that any of the elements is selected, and a corresponding action initiated, there is the potential for the user interface to display a dialog associated with the initiated action. The dialogs are displayed so as to be positioned with respect to the element whose selection caused the corresponding action to be initiated.

In some cases, the dialog may have a resolution control associated with it, the selection of which causes the dialog to be removed. The display distance between the selected element and the resolution control may be designed to be reduced. For instance, if the dialog appears below the selected element whose selection initiated the action, the resolution control might appear in the upper half of the dialog.

The dialog may be modeless in that the dialog need not be resolved before performing further actions and does not block the user interface from allowing other interactions. Thus, multiple dialogs might be presented over time, as the resolution of such dialogs may be postponed while other actions are performed.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 abstractly illustrates an example computing system in which the principles described herein may be employed;

FIG. 2 abstractly illustrates an environment that includes a user interface that has multiple selectable elements;

FIG. 3 illustrates a supporting architecture for a user interface such as that of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates displayed items in the form of a blade that includes a selectable element that includes an action visualization of an action triggered by a user by selecting a selectable element;

FIG. 5 illustrates displayed items in the form of a list that includes a selectable element that includes an action visualization of an action taken by a user selecting a selectable element;

FIG. 6 illustrates displayed items in the form of a part that is a selectable element that contains an action visualization that identifies an action taken upon selecting a selectable element;

FIG. 7 illustrates a much more detailed user interface that includes a canvas populated by a large number of selectable elements; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for presenting a dialog associated with an action in accordance with the principles described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

At least some embodiments described herein relate to dialogs within a user interface. The user interface has multiple selectable elements, the selection of each of which initiating a corresponding action. Each time that any of the elements is selected, and a corresponding action initiated, there is the potential for the user interface to display a dialog associated with the initiated action. The dialogs are displayed so as to be positioned with respect to the element whose selection caused the corresponding action to be initiated.

In some cases, the dialog may have a resolution control associated with it, the selection of which causes the dialog to be removed. The display distance between the selected element and the resolution control may be designed to be reduced. For instance, if the dialog appears below the selected element whose selection initiated the action, the resolution control might appear in the upper half of the dialog.

The dialog may be modeless in that the dialog need not be resolved before performing further actions and does not block the user interface from allowing other interactions. Thus, multiple dialogs might be presented over time, as the resolution of such dialogs may be postponed while other actions are performed.

Some introductory discussion of a computing system will be described with respect to FIG. 1. Then, example user interfaces, methods and supporting architectures will be described with respect to subsequent figures.

Computing systems are now increasingly taking a wide variety of forms. Computing systems may, for example, be handheld devices, appliances, laptop computers, desktop computers, mainframes, distributed computing systems, or even devices that have not conventionally been considered a computing system. In this description and in the claims, the term “computing system” is defined broadly as including any device or system (or combination thereof) that includes at least one physical and tangible processor, and a physical and tangible memory capable of having thereon computer-executable instructions that may be executed by the processor. The memory may take any form and may depend on the nature and form of the computing system. A computing system may be distributed over a network environment and may include multiple constituent computing systems.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, in its most basic configuration, a computing system 100 typically includes at least one processing unit 102 and memory 104. The memory 104 may be physical system memory, which may be volatile, non-volatile, or some combination of the two. The term “memory” may also be used herein to refer to non-volatile mass storage such as physical storage media. If the computing system is distributed, the processing, memory and/or storage capability may be distributed as well. As used herein, the term “executable module” or “executable component” can refer to software objects, routines, or methods that may be executed on the computing system. The different components, modules, engines, and services described herein may be implemented as objects or processes that execute on the computing system (e.g., as separate threads).

In the description that follows, embodiments are described with reference to acts that are performed by one or more computing systems. If such acts are implemented in software, one or more processors of the associated computing system that performs the act direct the operation of the computing system in response to having executed computer-executable instructions. For example, such computer-executable instructions may be embodied on one or more computer-readable media that form a computer program product. An example of such an operation involves the manipulation of data. The computer-executable instructions (and the manipulated data) may be stored in the memory 104 of the computing system 100. Computing system 100 may also contain communication channels 108 that allow the computing system 100 to communicate with other message processors over, for example, network 110.

The computing system 100 also includes a display 112 on which a user interface, such as the user interfaces described herein, may be rendered. Such user interfaces may be generated in computer hardware or other computer-represented form prior to rendering. The presentation and/or rendering of such user interfaces may be performed by the computing system 100 by having the processing unit(s) 102 execute one or more computer-executable instructions that are embodied on one or more computer-readable media. Such computer-readable media may form all or a part of a computer program product.

Embodiments described herein may comprise or utilize a special purpose or general-purpose computer including computer hardware, such as, for example, one or more processors and system memory, as discussed in greater detail below. Embodiments described herein also include physical and other computer-readable media for carrying or storing computer-executable instructions and/or data structures. Such computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer system. Computer-readable media that store computer-executable instructions are physical storage media. Computer-readable media that carry computer-executable instructions are transmission media. Thus, by way of example, and not limitation, embodiments of the invention can comprise at least two distinctly different kinds of computer-readable media: computer storage media and transmission media.

Computer storage media includes RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible medium which can be used to store desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

A “network” is defined as one or more data links that enable the transport of electronic data between computer systems and/or modules and/or other electronic devices. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a computer, the computer properly views the connection as a transmission medium. Transmissions media can include a network and/or data links which can be used to carry or desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Further, upon reaching various computer system components, program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures can be transferred automatically from transmission media to computer storage media (or vice versa). For example, computer-executable instructions or data structures received over a network or data link can be buffered in RAM within a network interface module (e.g., a “NIC”), and then eventually transferred to computer system RAM and/or to less volatile computer storage media at a computer system. Thus, it should be understood that computer storage media can be included in computer system components that also (or even primarily) utilize transmission media.

Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which, when executed at a processor, cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, or even source code. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the described features or acts described above. Rather, the described features and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced in network computing environments with many types of computer system configurations, including, personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, message processors, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, mobile telephones, PDAs, pagers, routers, switches, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed system environments where local and remote computer systems, which are linked (either by hardwired data links, wireless data links, or by a combination of hardwired and wireless data links) through a network, both perform tasks. In a distributed system environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

FIG. 2 abstractly illustrates an environment 200 that includes a user interface 201 that has multiple selectable elements 202. In the illustrated case, the user interface includes selectable elements 202A through 202F. As a side note, the user interface 201 is quite wide, and thus a typical display would not be able to display the entire user interface 201 simultaneously. Nevertheless, the principles described herein are not limited to the particular dimensions or shape of the user interface.

Each of the selectable elements 202A through 202F has a corresponding computing action that is initiated upon selection of the corresponding selected element. A “computing action” is defined as an action that a computing system may perform. Examples include querying for database, sending a message, retrieving data, displaying a new element, updating data, and so forth.

FIG. 3 illustrates a supporting architecture 300 for a user interface 301. For instance, the user interface 301 is an example of the user interface 200 of FIG. 2. The supporting architecture 300 is illustrated as including a user interface presentation component 311 capable of presenting a user interface with multiple selectable elements. For instance, the user interface presentation component 311 may present the user interface 301, an example of which being the user interface 200.

A user may manipulate a selecting control 312 to select any of the selectable elements within the user interface 301. For instance, if the user interface 301 were the user interface 200 of FIG. 2, the selecting control 312 may be used to select any of the selectable elements.

An activation module 321 may be used to respond to the selection by initiating a computing action associated with the selected element. A dialog determination component 331 determines when actions are to have an associated dialog appear on the user interface 301. A dialog presentation component 341 presents a dialog on the user interface to be positioned with respect to the selectable element whose selection caused the corresponding action to be initiated.

FIGS. 4 through 6 illustrate various displayed elements with a corresponding dialog presented underneath the selected element whose selection caused the action associated with the dialog to be initiated.

For instance, FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface 400 that includes a user interface element 401. The user interface element 401 includes a selectable element 411 that includes an action visualization 421 of an action trigger by a user by selecting the selectable element 411. Furthermore, the selectable element may be the actual actions the trigger the modeless dialogs. In this description and in the claims, a “blade” is a visual element that occupies an entire extent of one dimension of a user interface. For instance, suppose a canvas extends along a single extendable dimension. A blade might then occupy a range of space along the extendible dimension, and occupy an entire extent (or at least most of the extent) in a dimension orthogonal to the extendible dimension of the canvas.

The displayed items 400 also include a dialog 412 that appears beneath the selectable element 411. The dialog 412 includes two resolution elements 431 and 432 appearing in the upper half of the corresponding dialog 412 in the upper right corner. Accordingly, from the time that the user selects the action visualization 421 in the selectable element 411, until the time the user selects one of the resolution elements 431 and 432, the dialog 412 will continue to appear. The dialog 412 also includes an adornment 441 that refers to the corresponding action visualization 421. Accordingly, the user need not navigate very far vertically between the initiation of the action and the resolution of the corresponding dialog. Furthermore, the user can mentally reference the action that caused the dialog to appear in the first place. This is quite important as the user may leave the dialog unresolved for quite some time, such that by the time the user returns, the reminder may be quite helpful.

FIG. 5 illustrates displayed items 500 in the form of a list 501 that includes a selectable element 511 that includes an action visualization 521 of an action taken by a user selecting the selectable element 511. In this case, the selectable element 511 is an item from the list 501, and the action visualization 521 is a value from that item. The displayed items 500 also include a dialog 512 that again appears beneath the selectable element 511. The dialog 512 includes two resolution elements 531 and 532 again appearing in the upper half of the corresponding dialog 512 in the upper right corner. The dialog 512 also includes an adornment 541 that refers to the corresponding action visualization 521.

FIG. 6 illustrates displayed items 600 in the form of a part 601 that is a selectable element 611 that contains an action visualization 621 that identifies an action taken upon selecting the selectable element 611. A part 601 may be, for instance, a selectable element from within a blade. The displayed items 600 also include a dialog 612 that again appears beneath the selectable element 611. The dialog 612 includes two resolution elements 631 and 632 again appearing in the upper half of the corresponding dialog 612 in the upper right corner. The dialog 612 also includes an adornment 641 that refers to the corresponding action visualization 621.

Thus, regardless of the type of the selected element, the dialog presentation component 341 displays the dialog in a consistent manner across types. For instance, whether the selectable element is a blade (as in FIG. 4), an item from a list (as in FIG. 5), or a part of a blade (as in FIG. 6), the dialog (for at least most cases) is displayed similarly in that the dialog appears below the selectable element, with the resolution controls in the upper right corner of the dialog, and with an adornment pointing to the action visualization. This gives the user a consistent experience with dialogs regardless of the type of selectable element that initiated the action associated with the dialog.

FIG. 7 illustrates a much more detailed user interface 700 that includes a canvas populated by a large number of selectable elements. Only a few of the selectable elements are labeled as they are more relevant for the discussion herein. In FIG. 7, the user has a selecting control in the form of a pointer 701. The canvas might have originally included only a favorites area 710 that includes multiple selectable elements including selectable element 711. When the selectable element 711 is selected, a new blade 720 appears and as well as being a selectable element itself, might further include selectable elements such as selectable element 721. When the selectable element 721 is selected, a further blade 730 appears and as well as being a selectable element itself, might further include selectable elements such as selectable element 731. When the selectable element 731 is selected, a further blade 740 appears and as well as being a selectable element itself, might further include selectable elements such as selectable element 741. This may continue to allow the user to engage in a journey building up a canvas of history showing the path taken to get to where the user is presently.

In the context of FIG. 7, any of the selectable elements that may result in an action being taken if selected might have a corresponding dialog that appears at some point during the course of executing the action. The dialog presentation component 341 might present the dialog consistently regardless of the selectable element that is selected. For instance, in a hierarchical structure of selectable element, the dialog may appear consistent regardless of whether the parent element is selected, or the child element is selected.

As an example, if the user selects a blade-level command to initiate an action, the corresponding dialog may appear below the selectable command, with the resolution controls being in the upper right corner of the dialog, and with an adornment that points to the corresponding action visualization in the selectable element. Likewise, if the user selects an item from a list contained within that blade, or if the user selects a part contained within the blade, to thereby initiate an action, again a dialog may appear below the selectable element, with the resolution controls in the upper right corner of the dialog, and with an adornment pointing to the action visualization within the selectable element.

As previously mentioned, the presentation of the dialog is modeless. In other words, the dialog presentation module 341 presents the dialog without blocking work on the user interface 301. Accordingly, the dialog presentation module is capable of presenting multiple dialogs, each for different actions, concurrently. There might be one dialog open from a week ago, another opened yesterday, and another just barely opened. If the user is not comfortable immediately selecting a resolution control for any dialog, the user may postpone the decision on resolution.

As examples only, the dialog might include a request for confirmation that the user wants the computing action to occur that was invoked when the user selected the selectable control. The user might resolve the dialog by confirming that the user wants the computing action to occur, or confirming that the user does not want the computing action to occur. The dialog might also request that the user confirm that some action has occurred (such as the reviewing of a license agreement). The dialog might also be a message or notification of some type (e.g., a warning or error message), and the resolution is a confirmation that the message or notification has been reviewed and perhaps understood by the user. The dialog might also be a progress indicator for the computing action initiated through selection of the corresponding selectable element.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method 800 for presenting a dialog associated with an action in accordance with the principles described herein. The method is performed in the context in which a user interface is displayed and has multiple selectable elements, each initiating an action upon selection. An example of such a user interface is the user interface 200 of FIG. 2.

The method 800 is initiated upon determining that a user has selected a selectable element (event 801). For instance, referring to FIG. 3, the user might use the selecting control 312 to select one of the selectable elements from the user interface 301, an example of which being the user interface 200 of FIG. 2.

The computing system then initiates a computing action corresponding to the selected element (act 802). This might be performed by, for activation module 321. The computing system then presents a dialog associated with the computing action on the user interface so as to be positioned with respect to the selected element (act 803). For instance, the dialog determination component 331 may determine that a dialog is to appear, and the dialog presentation component 341 presents the dialog.

From that point, the dialog remains and awaits resolution from the user (act 804). This awaiting action does not prevent the user from continuing work on the user interface. Accordingly, other instances of the method 800 may be initiated, and even completed, while this instance of the method 800 remains in waiting mode (act 804). Thus, each dialog is modeless. There may be multiple dialogs pending without resolution at the same time, and resolution of any given dialog does not impeded work within the user interface. If the user desires to use the user interface to perform discovery required to determine how to resolve the dialog, the user may do so. If the user decides to avoid resolution of a dialog for some time in favor of other computing activities, the user may do so.

At some point, the user performs a resolution of the dialog (act 805). For instance, the user might confirm understanding of a message, confirm that some action has been taken (such as the reading of the license agreement), or confirming or denying that the user wishes an action to be taken. In response to determining that a resolution action has occurred (act 805), the dialog is removed (act 806).

Thus, modeless dialogs have been described in a manner that they are conveniently and intuitively associated with an action visualization. The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable storage media having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to instantiate and/or operate the following:

a user interface presentation component capable of presenting a user interface with a plurality of selectable elements, each initiating an action upon selection;

a dialog determination component that determines when actions are to have an associated dialog appear on the user interface; and

a dialog presentation component configured to, for each of a plurality of actions that the dialog determination component determines that are to have an associated dialog, present a dialog on the user interface in a manner positioned on the user interface with respect to the selectable element whose selection caused the corresponding action to be initiated.

2. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein for each of at least a majority of the dialogs presented by the dialog presentation component on the user interface, the corresponding dialog appears underneath the selectable element whose selection initiated the action, the corresponding dialog also including a set of one or more resolution elements appearing in the upper half of the corresponding dialog.

3. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein for each of at least a majority of the dialogs presented by the dialog presentation component on the user interface, the corresponding dialog has an adornment that identifies a visualization of the corresponding action initiated by the corresponding selectable element.

4. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the user interface displays a plurality of hierarchically structured selectable elements that includes at least a first selectable element, a parent element, that contains a plurality of child elements,

the dialog presentation component configured to display a dialog for the parent element in a consistent manner as it would a dialog for a particular child element of the plurality of child elements.

5. The computer program product in accordance with claim 4, the plurality of selectable elements being positioned on a canvas that extends in an extendable dimension, the parent element being a blade that occupies the canvas over a given extent along the extendable dimension.

6. The computer program product in accordance with claim 5, the particular child element being a part of a blade.

7. The computer program product in accordance with claim 5, the particular child element being an item from a list.

8. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, the dialog presentation module presenting dialogs without blocking work on the user interface.

9. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, the dialog presentation module capable of presenting multiple dialogs, each for different actions, simultaneously.

10. A method for presenting a dialog associated with an action, the method comprising:

an act of presenting a user interface having a selectable element that initiates an action upon selection;

an act of determining that a user has selected the selectable element;

an act of initiating a computing action corresponding to the selected element in response to determining that the user has selected the selected element; and

an act of presenting a dialog associated with the computing action on the user interface so as to be positioned with respect to the selected element.

11. The method in accordance with claim 10, further comprising:

an act of determining that a user has performed a resolution action with respect to the presented dialog; and

an act of removing the dialog in response to the resolution action.

12. The method in accordance with claim 11, the selected element being a first selected element, the computing action being a first computing action, and the dialog being a first dialog, the method further comprising:

an act of determining that a user has selected a second selectable element;

an act of initiating a second computing action corresponding to the second selected element in response to determining that the user has selected the second selected element; and

an act of presenting a second dialog associated with the second computing action on the user interface so as to be positioned with respect to the second selected element.

13. The method in accordance with claim 12, the act of initiating the second computing action occurring after the act of initiating the first computing action, and before the resolution action of the first dialog associated with the first computing action.

14. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the act of presenting the second dialog occurs while the first dialog is still presented on the user interface.

15. The method in accordance with claim 11, the dialog including a request for confirmation that the user wants the computing action to occur, and the resolution action includes the user confirming that the user wants the computing action to occur.

16. The method in accordance with claim 11, the dialog including a request for confirmation that the user wants the computing action to occur, and the resolution action includes the user indicating that the user does not want the computing action to occur.

17. The method in accordance with claim 11, the dialog being a message.

18. The method in accordance with claim 17, the resolution action being confirmation that the message has been viewed by the user.

19. The method in accordance with claim 10, the dialog being a progress indicator for the computing action.

20. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable storage media having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to present a dialog associated with an action, the method comprising:

in response to determining that a user has selected a selectable element, an act of initiating a computing action corresponding to the selected element; and

an act of presenting a modeless dialog associated with the computing action on the user interface so as to be positioned with respect to the selected element.