How to capture user actions and record user actions on Windows Applications, and on Browsers (such as IE, Firefox or Chrome) running on Windows?

I am a testing automation architect who wants to develop a tool (ideally via Java) which cans records testers’ actions in windows environment and store it in a txt file. The purpose is for testing traceability.

In our organization, we mainly test in browsers and windows applications. Can anyone suggest how to get started?

Thank you very much.