{
  "patent_number": "US 7530029",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Software Interfaces Shrink to Save Screen Space",
  "original_title": "Narrow mode navigation pane",
  "summary": "A method for automatically shrinking a navigation sidebar into a slim icon-based strip while maintaining access to full features through a temporary pop-up menu.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a dynamic user interface that allows a navigation sidebar to toggle between a wide 'normal' mode and a slim 'narrow' mode. In normal mode, the sidebar shows full text labels for applications and features. When the user switches to narrow mode, the interface replaces text labels with icons and rotates text labels vertically to save horizontal screen space. Critically, it includes a 'navigation pane control' that triggers a temporary pop-up, allowing the user to access the full-sized menu without permanently expanding the sidebar back to its original width.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover interfaces that simply hide the sidebar entirely rather than shrinking it to a narrow mode.",
    "Does not cover navigation bars that do not include a specific pop-up control for accessing full-size menu content while in the narrow state.",
    "Does not cover interfaces where the narrow mode is not triggered by a specific user-selectable toggle control.",
    "Does not cover systems that lack a preview pane for displaying data associated with the selected application."
  ],
  "filed": "2005-05-24",
  "granted": "2009-05-05",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Microsoft Corp",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/microsoft-corp",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Jesse Clay Satterfield",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/jesse-clay-satterfield"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jensen M. Harris",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/jensen-m-harris"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 34,
  "tags": [
    "software",
    "consumer_electronics"
  ],
  "abstract": "A narrow mode navigation pane is provided that may be selectively displayed as a replacement of a normal mode or full-size navigation pane to allow more display space for other user interface content. The narrow mode navigation pane is divided into sections, each section including selectable controls for providing data or functionality previously displayed in and selectable from the normal mode navigation pane. Selection of a \"Navigation Pane\" control causes the temporary display of a pop-up version of the normal mode navigation pane for allowing a user to view and/or select the full contents of the normal size navigation pane without toggling to the normal mode navigation pane. Additional sections of the narrow mode navigation pane may include selectable controls representing a subset of controls from the normal mode pane and for launching other software applications and associated user interfaces.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7530029/xbox-360-achievements-system",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7530029/xbox-360-achievements-system/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US7530029",
  "relatedPatents": []
}