Author: Umakant Mishra
Abstract:
The menu is one of the most widely used elements of a
graphical user interface. The objective of a menu system is to provide various
commands and functions to the user in an easy way so that the user can just
select the desired operation from a given list instead of typing a complex
command in the command prompt.
In a conventional menu system the menu items or options are
hard-coded in the computer program. The programmer or developer composes menu
items at the time of development. The developer tries to include all options
that he feels may be required by the user in future. Although the items are
decided from “requirement analysis” and other studies, it is difficult to know
the exact need of a user at a future period of time. This leads to inclusion of
a lot of items in the menu, which leads to user confusion and frustration.
Thus there is a need for adaptable menu that can be changed
according to user requirement. The items of the adaptable menu should change
from user to user and from time to time depending on the program context and
likelihood of user selection.
This article defines the Ideal Final Result of a dropdown
menu system, defines the desirable functions of an adaptable menu, finds and
solves the contradictions faced in achieving the desirable functions, and
illustrates six selected cases on adaptable menu from US patent database.
Keywords: TRIZ, Software Inventions, Graphical User
Interface, Software Patents, Inventive Problem Solving, Adaptable menu, Dynamic
Menu, expandable menu, invisible menu, dropdown menu, GUI, Menu, Software,
Invention, Patent, Human computer interface
Umakant Mishra, Inventions on Adaptable Menu: A TRIZ Based Analysis. December 6, 2006,
Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=949236
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