Telling interactive, self-directed stories with spreadsheets

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10198420-B2
Application number	US-201313918907-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2013
Priority date	Jun 15, 2013
Publication date	Feb 5, 2019
Grant date	Feb 5, 2019

Abstract

A spreadsheet storytelling engine is provided. The spreadsheet storytelling engine may run in the context of a spreadsheet application on any device, service, or general endpoint capable of running the spreadsheet application. The spreadsheet storytelling engine allows for the authoring and telling of a story. The story is a collection of operations that guide the consumer through a spreadsheet. The story allows the spreadsheet to be used to convey visualizations, data, calculations, or other objects in a spreadsheet in a way that may be simple, pleasant to look at, and/or visually engaging to help a consumer understand the information and internalize it in a way that is actionable without requiring the real time availability of the spreadsheet author. The spreadsheet storytelling engine is useful for purposes including, but not limited to, making presentations, creating tutorials, validating data, explaining how a model works, and generating interactive business intelligence dashboards.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for displaying a spreadsheet to convey information using a story, the method comprising the acts of:
opening the spreadsheet and the story associated with the spreadsheet, wherein the story comprises:
a first operation associated with a first object of the spreadsheet, wherein the first operation conveys information associated with the first object; and
a second operation associated with a second object of the spreadsheet, wherein the second operation conveys information associated with the second object;

displaying a storytelling user interface comprising playback controls for controlling playback of the story;
performing a sequence of operations from the story to convey information to a consumer, wherein the sequence of operations comprises:
performing the first operation, thereby conveying information for the first object; and
after performing the first operation, performing the second operation, thereby conveying information for the second object.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising hiding at least a portion of a user interface provided by the spreadsheet application during the act of performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising synchronizing the display of a single story for a plurality of consumers connected in a collaborative environment during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising facilitating communication between the plurality of consumers connected in a collaborative environment during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising facilitating communication between the consumer and a remote user between the plurality of consumers connected in a collaborative environment during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising displaying advertisements during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising communicating with a remote computer to determine if updates to the story are available during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

8. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the acts of:
creating a view of at least a portion of a selected object from the spreadsheet; and
displaying the view during performing a sequence of operations from the collection of operations in the story.

9. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
recording the communications between the plurality of consumers connected in a collaborative environment; and
storing the recorded communications with at least one of the story and the spreadsheet.

10. The method of claim 3 further comprising determining that an operation in the story is invalid due to modification of the spreadsheet by the consumer.

11. A system for creating a story to convey information in a spreadsheet, the system comprising a computing device having a processor and a memory in communication with the processor for executing a storytelling engine operable to:
record a collection of operations associated with the spreadsheet, wherein the collection of operations comprises:
a first operation relating to information about a first object of the spreadsheet, wherein the first operation is linked to the first object; and
a second operation relating to information about a second object of the spreadsheet, wherein the second operation is linked to the second object; and

generating the story comprising the collection of operations, wherein the story comprises an indication that the first operation and the second operation are performed sequentially; and
associating the story with the spreadsheet for later playback by a consumer.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to record annotations for display throughout the entire story.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to record annotations for display at specific points in the story.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to add a decision element requiring input from the consumer.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to:
record a first sequence of operations associated with the spreadsheet;
record a second sequence of operations associated with the spreadsheet;
link the first sequence of operations to a first value of the input to the decision element; and
link the second sequence of operations to a first value of the input to the decision element.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to disable modification of the story by the consumer.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the storytelling engine is further operable to save the story separately from the spreadsheet.

18. A computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, perform a method for displaying a spreadsheet to convey information using a story comprising a collection of operations, the method comprising the acts of:
opening the spreadsheet;
loading the story into the spreadsheet, wherein the story comprises:
a first operation associated with a first object of the spreadsheet, wherein the first operation conveys information associated with the first object; and
a second operation associated with a second object of the spreadsheet, wherein the second operation conveys information associated with the second object;

initiating playback of a selected portion of the story, the selected portion being selected by a user interacting with the first object of the spreadsheet; and
performing a sequence of operations corresponding to the selected portion of the story, wherein the sequence of operations comprises:
performing the first operation, thereby conveying information for the first object; and
after performing the first operation, performing the second operation, thereby conveying information for the second object.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises verifying the story is compatible with spreadsheet.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises locking the story and the spreadsheet from further modifications upon approval of the story and the spreadsheet.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Campbell John
• Patterson Eric
• Albert Uhl
• Otero Carlos Augusto
• Myerscough Micah

Classifications

• G06F40/18 Primary

  of spreadsheets (form-filling G06F40/174) · CPC title

• G06F17/246 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic