Patent ID: 8863189

Claim:
A set top box, comprising: a memory to store computer instructions; and a controller coupled with the memory, wherein the controller, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising: recording soft key preferences associated with a user of the set top box for each of a plurality of media presentation states of a media communication system, wherein each of the plurality of media presentation states comprises a separate user interface for managing a corresponding one of an electronic programming guide, a video-on-demand catalog, a set top box help guide, a personal content library, and a web portal, and wherein the recording of the soft key preferences is based on user input indicating keys that have been determined to be likely to be utilized; receiving a request for presentation of a graphical user interface associated with one of the plurality of media presentation states; monitoring navigation activity at each separate user interface for the electronic programming guide, the video-on-demand catalog, the set top box help guide, and the web portal; determining from the navigation activity a usage pattern by utilizing correlation pattern recognition that identifies combinations of key strokes to perform a plurality of functions; selecting soft keys based on the usage pattern and according to the soft key preferences assigned to a requested media presentation state corresponding to the request for presentation, wherein each of the soft keys combines the plurality of functions associated with managing operations of the set top box; presenting the soft keys in the graphical user interface, wherein a first portion of the graphical user interface is presented exclusively at a display device coupled with the set top box and a second portion of the graphical user interface is presented exclusively at a remote controller in communication with the set top box, wherein the remote controller manages operations of the set top box over a wireless interface, wherein the second portion of the graphical user interface presented at the remote controller displays the soft keys at a display of the remote controller, and wherein the first portion of the graphical user interface presented at the display device does not present the soft keys; generating a modified second portion of the graphical user interface and displaying the modified second portion of the graphical user interface, wherein the generating of the modified second portion of the graphical user interface includes removing first and second soft keys of the soft keys and creating a third soft key with a combined functionality of the first and second soft keys, wherein the functionality of the first and second keys was included in the soft key preferences that was based on the user input.