Abstract
This disclosure describes a navigation convention in which a set of reserved inputs keeps
the same meaning at every level and state of any navigable structure. The inputs may be
keys, key pairs or clusters, DTMF tones, spoken words, fixed-direction swipes, tilts, dial
detents, chords, long-presses or remote, wheel and switch-access buttons. Each input is
bound to a navigation relation: back and forward through history, parent and child,
previous and next sibling, first and last, home, up, down, left and right, related or linked
node, bookmarks, undo and redo, zoom in and out, earlier and later in time, or language.
The structure may be a menu tree, graph, list, playlist, grid, map, timeline, document,
form, settings hierarchy or conversational state machine. Each input moves the position
one step or reports an edge. A telephone embodiment reserves 7 for back and 9 for
forward, or 1 and 3, at every IVR menu level, with 0 for home and 8 for repeat. Spatial
keypad layouts mirror direction (2, 8, 4 and 6; diagonals 1, 3, 7 and 9). The binding is
announced, discoverable and remappable, and stays the same across devices and sessions.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Boll, Joe, "Consistent Reserved Navigation Inputs Across Every Level of Any Navigable Structure, Including Fixed Back and Forward Keys for Phone Menus", Technical Disclosure Commons, ()
https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/12738