A method for operating a user interface on a system in which objects are displayed on a touch sensitive display screen. A touch coordinate is received from the touch sensitive display screen indicative of a touch location on the display screen. A search area surrounding the touch coordinate is searched for an object. The search area has an initial minimum size. If an object is found within the initial minimum search area it is identified. If no object is found, then the size of the search area is incrementally increased and searched until a final maximum size is reached. If no object is found, then the search is terminated.