Showing papers by "Pamela Briggs published in 2013"

Age-related performance issues for PIN and face-based authentication systems

Abstract: Graphical authentication systems typically claim to be more usable than PIN or password-based systems, but these claims often follow limited, single-stage paradigm testing on a young, student population. We present a more demanding test paradigm in which multiple codes are learned and tested over a three-week period. We use this paradigm with two user populations, comparing the performance of younger and older adults. We first establish baseline performance in a study in which populations of younger and older adults learn PIN codes and we follow this with a second study in which younger and older adults use two face-based graphical authentication systems employing young faces vs. old faces as code components. As expected, older adults show relatively poor performance when compared to younger adults, irrespective of the authentication material, but this age-related deficit can be markedly reduced by the introduction of age-appropriate faces. We conclude firstly that this paradigm provides a good basis for the future evaluation of memory-based authentication systems and secondly that age-appropriate face-based authentication is viable in the security marketplace.

Why don't we trust health websites that help us help each other?: an analysis of online peer-to-peer healthcare

Abstract: Shared patient experience (PEx) has become common on the medical Internet and is a potentially valuable source of health information and advice, but little is known about how we choose to incorporate PEx in our information gathering and health decision-making. An online questionnaire revealed a paradox: patients like PEx and are drawn to sites containing PEx, but are then less likely to trust the information and advice they find there. Subsequent analysis suggests that this paradox may be related to the prevalence of advertising as a funding-model for online patient communities. To better understand these issues we explored one health domain (smoking cessation) in greater depth, inviting participants to search for relevant material and then discuss the different kinds of patient experience they found online. We report on the selection and rejection factors involved in choosing sites containing PEx and explore the notion of credible design in this space.

Faces and Pictures: Understanding age differences in two types of graphical authentications

Abstract: Recall of knowledge-based authentication codes such as passwords and PINs can be problematic, particularly for older adults given the known memory decline associated with ageing. We explored the extent to which recognition-based Graphical Authentication Systems were effective alternatives to PINs and passwords in a study in which users were asked to commit several different codes to memory and recall them at different time periods. Populations of younger and older adults were given face-based and picture-based authentication codes to remember over the course of three weeks. Results show a pronounced age effect, with younger participants outperforming older participants. Older participants fared better with the face-based system over the picture-based system while younger participants exhibited the opposite effect. A significant performance drop was observed for older participants over time, as additional codes were introduced.

Location tracking: views from the older adult population

Abstract: Background: there has been a rise in the use of social media applications that allow people to see where friends, family and nearby services are located. Yet while uptake has been high for younger people, adoption by older adults is relatively slow, despite the potential health and social benefits. In this paper, we explore the barriers to acceptance of location-based services (LBS) in a community of older adults. Objective: to understand attitudes to LBS technologies in older adults. Methods: eighty-six older adults used LBS for 1-week and completed pre- and post-use questionnaires. Twenty available volunteers from the first study also completed in-depth interviews after their experience using the LBS technology. Results: the pre-use questionnaire identified perceptions of usefulness, individual privacy and visibility as predictive of intentions to use a location-tracking service. Post-use, perceived risk was the only factor to predict intention to use LBS. Interviews with participants revealed that LBS was primarily seen as an assistive technology and that issues of trust and privacy were important. Conclusion: the findings from this study suggest older adults struggle to see the benefits of LBS and have a number of privacy concerns likely to inhibit future uptake of location-tracking services and devices.

Encouraging second thoughts: Obstructive user interfaces for raising security awareness

Abstract: We propose a suite of user interface widgets to intuitively inform a user of a mobile device's sense of comfort at the user's proposed actions.

Location tracking via social networking sites

Abstract: The use of social media has steadily grown in recent years, and now more than ever, people are logging on to websites like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Google Latitude with the aim of broadcasting their location information. The ability to 'check in' has enabled social network site users to broadcast detailed information about their whereabouts and also what they are doing there. This is encouraged by the implementation of location-based services (LBS) - technology which uses information about the geographical position of a mobile device. To date, little academic research has focused on perceptions of, or intentions to use these systems. This paper describes a study which utilised a psychological framework originally designed to predict intentions to use LBS, which was modified to assess intentions to use LBS within a social networking site (SNS) context. Participants completed an online survey, assessing their beliefs surrounding, and intentions to use, LBS via SNS. We find that trust of the social network provider as well as disclosure preferences influence intentions to use SNS with friends, family, and colleagues. This work highlights an important area of psychological research that has not previously been considered, and provides a theoretical foundation from which further work could explore location-tracking aspects of SNS.

An engagement framework for understanding the communication needs of different health groups

Abstract: Qualitative investigations were conducted with three discrete health groups, involving asthma sufferers, smokers considering quitting, and personal carers of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The participants searched for and commented on the different kinds of health information that was available online, including discussions and postings about shared patient experiences. Different patient groups clearly showed different communication needs in terms of their online search behavior and this reflected (i) the information available on and offline, (ii) the success of previous patient-clinician communications and also (iii) the complex coping strategies of the patients and carers themselves. We captured these needs in a new engagement framework that can be used to guide the design of new online systems and to support developments in patient-clinician communication.

Teenagers' attitudes and design values around identity management

Abstract: Technologies and public policies in relation to identity management (IDM) are changing rapidly and our understanding of public attitudes to such change is not well developed. In this paper we consider attitudes to new and near-future IDM technologies in groups of vulnerable teenagers. This paper describes how we engaged with these groups, giving examples of our use of ‘design provocations’ that took the form of film, artifacts and props. These provocations were generally successful in prompting discussion through focus group and workshop formats and in seeding the elicitation of design values in this space. Author