Assisting user selection of graphical user interface elements

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 a predefined set of characteristics for the identified GUI elements (and which can include the distance between the pointer and each element, and weightings associated with each element, e.g. based on statistics of previous user interaction sequences) are compared to predict which will be the next that the user will interact with. The pointer is moved to the position of the predicted GUI element, or emphasis is added to it. The user then decides whether this GUI element is required. The invention has particular advantages for: apparatus which use eye tracking mechanisms for user input; apparatus which have a relatively small area for displaying a GUI; apparatus having an input device which is hard to control; users of computing apparatus who have physical limitations on their ability to control input devices.