WO2002052437A2 - A method and a system for providing information - Google Patents
A method and a system for providing information Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2002052437A2 WO2002052437A2 PCT/DK2001/000846 DK0100846W WO02052437A2 WO 2002052437 A2 WO2002052437 A2 WO 2002052437A2 DK 0100846 W DK0100846 W DK 0100846W WO 02052437 A2 WO02052437 A2 WO 02052437A2
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- user interface
- providing
- user
- image
- functionality
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/14—Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
- G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
- G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
- G09G5/14—Display of multiple viewports
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
Abstract
A method and a system for providing information relating to a user interface comprises: means for receiving, from an internet site for communicating with portable electronic units each having a user interface comprising means for providing images to a user, the internet site being adapted to transmit user interface images to the portable units, image information representing a user interface image to be transmitted to a portable unit, a visual user interface, first means for providing, on a first area of the visual user interface, the image information so as to simulate or emulate the user interface of a portable unit and second means for providing, on a second area of the visual user interface, additional information corresponding to contents of or a functionality of the image information, the first and second areas being at least essentially non-overlapping.
Description
A method and a system for providing information
The present invention relates to a method and a system for providing information and more particularly to a method and a system for providing information relating to visual information and/or functionalities to be provided on portable units normally having a smaller visual user interface than that on which the present information is provided.
Portable user interfaces or portable electronic units are becoming more and more widely used for a number of purposes. Common to all these devices is their inherent, small area of the visual user interface. This small area is used for providing the required information and normally no helping information, for example, can be provided on the user interface while other information is provided. This makes the portable devices relatively difficult to use. It is not desired to have to replace the contents of a user interface, such as a screen image, in order to obtain helping information.
This is especially a problem when the portable devices are adapted to receive images and functionality from e.g. the Internet. This is due to the fact that such functionality may be altered or expanded continuously whereby the user will be required to or desire to know additional, new functionality now and then.
The present invention relates to a solution to that problem in that the information relating to the user interface and/or functionality may be learned on another user interface in order to avoid, as much as possible, time consuming trial-and-error on the portable devices.
Thus, in a first aspect, the invention relates to a method comprising the steps of: providing image information representing a user interface image to be transmitted to a portable unit, the image information being provided from an internet site for communicating with portable electronic units each having a user interface comprising means for providing images to a user, the internet site being adapted to transmit user interface images to the portable units, providing, on a first area of a visual user interface, the image information so as to simulate or emulate the user interface of a portable unit, providing, on a second area of the visual user interface, additional information corresponding to contents of or a functionality of the image information, the first and second areas being at least essentially non-overlapping.
In the present context, the image information represents the user interface image in a manner so that the visual user interface simulates or emulates that of the portable unit. Normally, this would mean that the image provided on the visual user interface relates to - or is identical to - the image(s), which would be provided on the portable unit.
Also, in the present context, at least essentially non-overlapping will mean that, preferably, the full information of the first image information may be provided to a user. However, it may be desired to illustrate correspondence between parts of the additional information and the image information by lines or the like. Thus, a small overlap may derive from such corresponding.
It is clear that the image information may be any information visible to the user, such as text and hyperlinks. Also information in addition thereto may be provided by the portable unit or the system itself and provided together with the image information in the first area.
Also, additional images (in addition to the image information relating to the visual interface) may be provided for emulating functional buttons on the portable unit. The functionality thereof may also be emulated and additional information thereto may be provided.
A portable unit may be a PDA, such as a Palm Pilot®, a mini-PC or a mobile telephone.
The Internet site may be one or more entity/ies with which the portable units may communicate and receive information from and transmit information to in order to receive additional image information and/or to via the entity/ies transmit or receive additional information. Thus, via the entity/ies, information may be provided to additional providers, such as banks, travelling agencies, etc, whereby information from a portable unit or the visual user interface may be relayed to the additional provider(s) in order to e.g. obtain a certain functionality or effect at a provider.
Thus, preferably a larger visual user interface is provided so that both the information relating to the image information but also the additional information can be provided to the user at the same time in a non-overlapping fashion. Now, the additional information may be provided without having to depart from the image provided in the first place.
Preferably, the step of providing the image information comprises receiving image information in a format representable on the user interfaces of the portable units and converting this form to a http-format. Formats representable on portable units may be WML, (WAP), HTML, HDML, l-Mode etc.
In this manner, the image information, which the Internet site normally transmits to the portable units, may be converted into a format viewable in a browser. Then, the Internet site is not required to maintain two different sites - one for use with the portable units and one for use with the present invention. Differences between such two sites might render the advantages of the present invention smaller in that such differences could confuse users.
Preferably, the step of providing the image information on the first area comprises providing on the first image an image corresponding to an image to be provided on a portable unit. In that manner, the correspondence of the first area and the user interface of the portable units may be fully or at least substantially identical or corresponding. Also, the full portable unit or the interface thereof (including the visual user interface and functional buttons thereof) may be illustrated in the first area.
The Internet site might be adapted to provide a predetermined functionality at or in the portable units. Such functionality may be one where a user by selecting items on the image or providing or entering information to the internet site or into the portable unit. Such functionality may relate to economical transactions in home banking, reserving tickets, etc. etc. In this situation, the step of providing the additional information might comprise providing information adapted to help a user learn that functionality. Thus by using the visual user interface instead of the portable unit, the same functionality may be tested and learned. In fact, it may be desired that the functionality is just as "real" on the visual user interface as on the portable unit. Thus, performing e.g. an economical transaction using the present invention and the information of the first area may be identical to that of performing the same operation on a portable unit.
The additional information relating to a functionality may list the steps, selections or types of information to be taken/entered in order to obtain the functionality. Also, the additional
information may comprise information relating to a number of functions, which may be provided, obtained or learned.
In fact, the additional information may be provided either from a more or less static database, or in the other extreme from an interactive chatting or requesting from an expert user or an expert system.
Normally, a such functionality is obtained by performing one or more selections at each of a number of images provided sequentially by the internet site, and the step of providing the additional information would then comprise providing information informing a user of the selections to be performed in order to obtain the functionality. This additional information may alter when shifting through the individual images of "the functionality" or may be the same for a number of images.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a system for providing information relating to a user interface, the system comprising:
means for receiving, from an internet site for communicating with portable electronic units each having a user interface comprising means for providing images to a user, the internet site being adapted to transmit user interface images to the portable units, image information representing a user interface image to be transmitted to a portable unit, a visual user interface, first means for providing, on a first area of the visual user interface, the image information so as to simulate or emulate the user interface of a portable unit, second means for providing, on a second area of the visual user interface, additional information corresponding to contents of or a functionality of the image information, the first and second areas being at least essentially non-overlapping.
Naturally, the Internet site may provide the additional information in order to ensure correspondence between the image information and the additional information. This additional information may be provided in e.g. a mark-up language or similar language, such as WML and HDML, by an addition to the definition thereof. In one situation, this may be obtained by the Internet site providing, if requested, both the image information and the additional information (such as two separate files), where this request is provided
by the present system but not normally by the portable units. In another situation, the additional information may always be provided together with the image information where the portable units will then simply ignore this part of the information received and simply display the image information.
Alternatively, the system may further comprise means for receiving the image information and providing this to the visual user interface and means for holding and providing the additional information to the user interface.
When the visual user interface is positioned at a user and the receiving means and the holding means are provided at an entity different from the user, whereby a third entity may provide the service of the present invention and to hold and maintain the additional information. The invention being a very useful addition to the service provided by the Internet site to the portable units, this set-up is quite possible and likely.
As described above, the receiving means may comprise means for receiving image information in a format representable on the user interfaces of the portable units and means for converting that format to a http-format or another format which is viewable in a browser.
Preferably, the first providing means comprise means for providing, on the first area, an image corresponding to - or even being identical to - an image to be provided on a portable unit.
Also, as is described above, the Internet site may be adapted to provide a predetermined functionality at or in the portable units, and wherein second providing means are adapted to provide additional information adapted to help a user learn that functionality.
This functionality may be obtained by performing one or more selections at each of a number of images provided sequentially by the internet site, and where the second providing means area adapted to provide additional information informing a user of the selections to be performed in order to obtain the functionality.
In the following, a preferred embodiment is described with reference to the drawing illustrating the overall structure of thereof.
Component description
The product is based on being executed on an Internet server through the http protocol, as a normal Internet application. This means that the product is basically client-server based.
The actual execution of the product is handled by the server-side. The client is mostly to be looked upon as the "viewer", and will only take part in the last step of the execution.
On the server side the following components are needed:
esA computer running web server software (e.g. Apache, IIS etc.), and is capable of server side scripting (CGI). esAnother computer running database software (e.g. Oracle, MySql, Sybase etc.) that is connected to the web server. This machine could theoretically be same as the web server, but usually is not.
As for the client side the following components are needed:
esA computer running a client program for browsing the Internet (e.g. MS Explorer, Netscape etc.), with connection to the Internet. The client program should be capable of running JavaScript (all new browsers have this feature).
Description of the user interaction
This section will describe the product with reference to the drawing, with the components involved from the end-user to the wap site host.
In order to fully understand how the product works, it is important to tell the difference between the input-user and the end-user.
csThe input-user is the one who is maintaining the wap site (he could very well be the creator), and is using the product to give knowledge. osThe end-user is the actual user of the system, and is using the product to gain knowledge.
Input-user interaction
When an input-user (the client) decides to make a help text to support the content of his wap site, he will try to connect to system (the web server) by entering the URL in his browser. The system will respond by asking for 3 inputs; a username, a password and a location (URL) of the wap site. The username and password is for authentication purposes only - and can be omitted. The URL is the important part, and contains the Internet address of the wap site that the input-user would like to make documentation for. Assuming the user can provide all 3, the system will attempt to reach the address provided by the input-user. The web server acts like the following: 1.The system receives a request from an input-user, and responds with a login page
(maybe) and an input box to get the URL of the wap site. 2.The system attempts to reach the server hosting the wap site provided in the input box. 3. If the system successfully reaches the site, it will ask for the wap content (WML/1.1 ). 4.The system displays 3 things to the input-user:
- A complete flow of the wap site (a tree-like structure).
- An HTML version of the wap site (a wap->html emulator).
- An input box to type in help text to a specified element of the site.
The first page of the site is now downloaded to the system, and the input-user can choose two different ways of making documentation on the site (or both); the general help and help for specific task.
Description of "general help"
As for the general help method, the input-user will systematically walk through the whole wap site and, while getting along, type in a small help text or description regarding each element of the site. It is possible to leave elements blank, if help is not required.
Every time the input-user has finished an element, the system (the web server) collects the information as a structure containing the following elements: a random (unique) session identifier (string), the wap site URL (string), the actual wap site path (string), the help text (string), a timestamp (date), and some statistics fields (last updated, last visit, number of visits etc.).
When the input-user is done, the system (the web server) connects to the database server and stores all the information collected.
The wap site will now have help text bundled to all elements. That is, the actual wap site is not really changed at all, but when it is displayed using the system described above the end-user will be able to see the help text provided by the database server - but interaction between the system and the end-user is described further below.
Description of "task help"
When the input-user decides to make documentation for a specific task, the flow differs a bit from the general help method. Instead of just going through the whole site, the input- user will click on a "new task" button. The system will act like the following: csThe system receives a request to make a new task from an input-user. csThe system will, instead of the complete flow of the wap site, show some input boxes, where the input-user will be asked for the following things: - name of the task (e.g. "Transfer money")
- description of the task (e.g. "Will show how transfer money from one account to another"). cβThe system will start recording the input-user performing the task:
- the input-user will do exactly what is to be done to perform the task (in the wap emulator).
- when done, the input-user clicks a "stop recording" button. esThe system will now show the complete flow of the wap site again, but this time with the elements recorded as highlighted. cgThe input-user will walk through the highlighted elements only and write a small help text to each element - just as in the general help method. Each text referring to the specific task covered. esThe input-user can repeat this and make as many tasks as he likes.
Every time the input-user has finished making a task, it will become listed and editable. The system (the web server) collects the information, as the input-user is making a new task, and stores everything in the database when he is finished - same procedure as with general help.
End-user interaction
The end-user is the one who will see and use the work of the input-user. For him the screen will not look the same as to the input-user, but will, at a starting point, look like a "normal" wap emulator. The difference will only show when the end-user visits a site that has been documented by an input-user. The wap emulator will then be extended and the system will display the following 2 things to the end-user: csAn HTML version of the wap site (a wap->html emulator). csAn output box containing the help text.
This means that whenever an end-user is browsing a wap site, the system (the web server) connects to the database server to check if there is an entry with the wap site URL in it. If there is such an entry, the system will tell the end-user that the present wap site has the extra feature as an option. The extension will show, and the system will automatically connect to the database and provide the end-user with the help text - displayed in the outbox box.
The help text is generated based on the URL requested by the end user. The end user request is handled by the system, which connects to the database.
The running system
When the system is running there will be wap sites that are documented and wap sites that are not. The idea is to have one centralised database server that stores information provided by input-users. A specific wap emulator with this extra feature implemented and the possibility to reach the database will provide end-users with the option to have extra documentation/help/description to the wap sites he is browsing. This emulator is not restricted to one server only.
The input-users can, by use of a username and password, return and make changes to their documentation at any time, to keep it up to date.
Claims
1. A method comprising the steps of: providing image information representing a user interface image to be transmitted to a portable unit, the image information being provided from an internet site for communicating with portable electronic units each having a user interface comprising means for providing images to a user, the internet site being adapted to transmit user interface images to the portable units, providing, on a first area of a visual user interface, the image information so as to simulate or emulate the user interface of a portable unit, providing, on a second area of the visual user interface, additional information corresponding to contents of or a functionality of the image information, the first and second areas being at least essentially non-overlapping.
2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of providing image information comprises receiving image information in a format representable on the user interfaces of the portable units and converting this form to a http-format.
3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of providing the image information on the first area comprises providing on the first image an image corresponding to an image to be provided on a portable unit.
4. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the internet site is adapted to provide a predetermined functionality at or in the portable units, and wherein the step of providing the additional information comprises providing information adapted to help a user learn that functionality.
5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the functionality is obtained by performing one or more selections at each of a number of images provided sequentially by the internet site, and where the step of providing the additional information comprises providing information informing a user of the selections to be performed in order to obtain the functionality.
6. A system for providing information relating to a user interface, the system comprising: means for receiving, from an internet site for communicating with portable electronic units each having a user interface comprising means for providing images to a user, the internet site being adapted to transmit user interface images to the portable units, image information representing a user interface image to be transmitted to a portable unit, a visual user interface, first means for providing, on a first area of the visual user interface, the image information so as to simulate or emulate the user interface of a portable unit, - second means for providing, on a second area of the visual user interface, additional information corresponding to contents of or a functionality of the image information, the first and second areas being at least essentially non-overlapping.
7. A system according to claim 6, further comprising - means for receiving the image information and providing this to the visual user interface and means for holding and providing the additional information to the user interface.
8. A system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the visual user interface is positioned at a user and wherein the receiving means and the holding means are provided at an entity different from the user.
9. A system according to any of claims 6-8, wherein the receiving means comprise means for receiving image information in a format representable on the user interfaces of the portable units and means for converting that format to a http-format.
10. A system according to any of claims 6-9, wherein the first providing means comprise means for providing, on the first area, an image corresponding to an image to be provided on a portable unit.
11. A system according to any of claims 6-10, wherein the Internet site is adapted to provide a predetermined functionality at or in the portable units, and wherein second providing means are adapted to provide additional information adapted to help a user learn that functionality (by using the visual user interface instead of the portable unit).
12. A system according to claim 11, wherein the functionality is obtained by performing one or more selections at each of a number of images provided sequentially by the internet site, and where the second providing means area adapted to provide additional information informing a user of the selections to be performed in order to obtain the functionality.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU2002221585A AU2002221585A1 (en) | 2000-12-22 | 2001-12-19 | A method and a system for providing information |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US25709000P | 2000-12-22 | 2000-12-22 | |
| US60/257,090 | 2000-12-22 |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| WO2002052437A2 true WO2002052437A2 (en) | 2002-07-04 |
| WO2002052437A3 WO2002052437A3 (en) | 2002-09-26 |
Family
ID=22974836
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DK2001/000846 WO2002052437A2 (en) | 2000-12-22 | 2001-12-19 | A method and a system for providing information |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| AU (1) | AU2002221585A1 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2002052437A2 (en) |
Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5799268A (en) * | 1994-09-28 | 1998-08-25 | Apple Computer, Inc. | Method for extracting knowledge from online documentation and creating a glossary, index, help database or the like |
| WO2000078079A1 (en) * | 1999-06-11 | 2000-12-21 | Nokia Corporation | A method for providing a user interface to a subscriber terminal for configuring intelligent network services |
-
2001
- 2001-12-19 AU AU2002221585A patent/AU2002221585A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2001-12-19 WO PCT/DK2001/000846 patent/WO2002052437A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
Patent Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5799268A (en) * | 1994-09-28 | 1998-08-25 | Apple Computer, Inc. | Method for extracting knowledge from online documentation and creating a glossary, index, help database or the like |
| WO2000078079A1 (en) * | 1999-06-11 | 2000-12-21 | Nokia Corporation | A method for providing a user interface to a subscriber terminal for configuring intelligent network services |
Non-Patent Citations (2)
| Title |
|---|
| NOKIA WAP TOOLKIT 2.0 Ä DATASHEET] NOKIA, [Online] - June 2000 (2000-06) XP002902533 Retrieved from the Internet: <URL:http://www.nokia.com/corporate/wap/fi les/nokia_toolkit.pfd>> [retrieved on 2002-06-27] * |
| WEB PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS FOR WIRELESS APPLICATIONS Ä WHITE PAPERÜ , 27 July 2000 (2000-07-27), pages 1 -17, XP002902534 Sunnyvale ,Ca , MERCURY INTERACTIVE CORP. * |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| AU2002221585A1 (en) | 2002-07-08 |
| WO2002052437A3 (en) | 2002-09-26 |
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