Assisting user selection of graphical user interface elements

摘要

Provided are a method and a software-implemented mechanism for assisting a user of a graphical user interface (GUI) with the task of positioning an input device pointer (or otherwise indicating a position selection) when selecting a GUI element such as a button or other icon. The software identifies those GUI elements which are valid selections for the current application state and so are potentially the next element that the user will interact with. Then a predefined set of characteristics for the identified GUI elements are compared to predict which of these GUI elements will be the next GUI element that the user will interact with. The result of this prediction is indicated by moving the pointer to the position within the GUI of the predicted GUI element or by adding emphasis to the predicted GUI element. The user then decides whether this GUI element is required.