Floating action buttons

US7747952B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Microsoft Corporation · US

Inventors

• Michael J. McCormack · Snohomish, US
• Christopher W. Bryant · Seattle, US
• Andrew R. Miller · Issaquah, US
• Robert E. Coggins · Bellevue, US
• Scott T. Gardner · Seattle, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 30, 2004
• Grant date: Jun 29, 2010
• Expiry date: Sep 17, 2026

Classification

• Technology area (CPC —): General

Abstract

A user interface (UI) includes floating action buttons. Respective hot zones are established for associated respective UI elements. When a focus is targeting (e.g., located at) a given hot zone, one or more floating action buttons that are associated therewith are presented as part of the UI. Activation of a particular action button of the one or more floating action buttons causes an action corresponding to the particular action button to be implemented. In an example implementation, the actions available through the one or more floating action buttons may be context-sensitive such that the actions thereof are tailored to the type of item corresponding to the UI element (e.g., an icon, a graphical element, a text portion, a screen area, etc.).