Graham I. Johnson

Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Exploring the feasibility of graphical authentication systems

The weakness of knowledge-based authentication systems, such as passwords and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs), is well known, and reflects an uneasy compromise between security and human memory constraints. Research has been undertaken for some years now into the feasibility of graphical authentication mechanisms in the hope that these will provide a more secure and memorable alternative. The graphical approach substitutes the exact recall of alphanumeric codes with the recognition of previously learnt pictures, a skill at which humans are remarkably proficient. So far, little attention has been devoted to usability, and initial research has failed to conclusively establish significant memory improvement. This paper reports two user studies comparing several implementations of the graphical approach with PINs. Results demonstrate that pictures can be a solution to some problems relating to traditional knowledge-based authentication but that they are not a simple panacea, since a poor design can eliminate the picture superiority effect in memory. The paper concludes by discussing the potential of the graphical approach and providing guidelines for developers contemplating using these mechanisms.

Usability and biometric verification at the ATM interface

This paper describes some of the consumer-driven usability research conducted by NCR Self Service Strategic Solutions in the development of an understanding of usability and user acceptance of leading-edge biometrics verification techniques. We discuss biometric techniques in general and focus upon the usability phases and issues, associated with iris verification technology at the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) user interface. The paper concludes with a review of some of the major research issues encountered, and an outline of future work in the area.

VIP: a visual approach to user authentication

This paper addresses knowledge-based authentication systems in self-service technology, presenting the design and evaluation of the Visual Identification Protocol (VIP). The basic idea behind it is to use pictures instead of numbers as a means for user authentication. Three different authentication systems based on images and visual memory were designed and compared with the traditional Personal Identification Number (PIN) approach in a longitudinal study involving 61 users. The experiment addressed performance criteria and subjective evaluation. The study and associated design exploration revealed important knowledge about users, their attitudes towards and behaviour with novel authentication approaches using images. VIP was found to provide a promising and easy-to-use alternative to the PIN. The visual code is easier to remember, preferred by users and potentially more secure than the numeric code. Results also provided guidelines to help designers make the best use of the natural power of visual memory in security solutions.

Culture & biometrics: regional differences in the perception of biometric authentication technologies

Previous research has identified user concerns about biometric authentication technology, but most of this research has been conducted in European contexts. There is a lack of research that has investigated attitudes towards biometric technology in other cultures. To address this issue, data from India, South Africa and the United Kingdom were collected and compared. Cross-cultural attitudinal differences were seen, with Indian respondents viewing biometrics most positively while respondents from the United Kingdom were the least likely to have a positive opinion about biometrics. Multiple barriers to the acceptance of biometric technology were identified with data security and health and safety fears having the greatest overall impact on respondents’ attitudes towards biometrics. The results of this investigation are discussed with reference to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and theories of technology acceptance. It is argued that contextual issues specific to each country provide a better explanation of the results than existing theories based on Hofstede’s model. We conclude that cultural differences have an impact on the way biometric systems will be used and argue that these factors should be taken into account during the design and implementation of biometric systems.

Instruction, Feedback and Biometrics: The User Interface for Fingerprint Authentication Systems

Biometric authentication is the process of establishing an individuals identity through measurable characteristics of their behaviour, anatomy or physiology. Biometric technologies, such as fingerprint systems, are increasingly being used in a diverse range of contexts from immigration control, to banking and personal computing. As is often the case with emerging technologies, the usability aspects of system design have received less attention than technical aspects. Fingerprint systems pose a number of challenges for users and past research has identified issues with correct finger placement, system feedback and instruction. This paper describes the development of an interface for fingerprint systems using an iterative, participative design approach. During this process, several different methods for the presentation of instruction and feedback were identified. The different types of instruction and feedback were tested in a study involving 82 participants. The results showed that feedback had a statistically significant effect on overall system performance, but instruction did not. The design recommendations emerging from this study, and the use of participatory design in this context, are discussed.

Gendering the Machine: Preferred Virtual Assistant Gender and Realism in Self-Service

A virtual agent is a human-like character that is designed to assist users in interactions with technology and virtual worlds. Research into the preferred visual characteristics of a virtual agent has focused on education-based agents, gaming avatars, and online help assistants. However, findings from these studies are not necessarily generalizable to other technologies, such as self-service checkouts (SSCO). This paper describes data from 578 participants, looking at the gender preferences of Virtual Assistants (VA) in a SSCO context and the impact of VA realism depending on user gender. Due to female participants’ preference for female VAs, and an overall preference for three-dimensional characters, a realistic, female VA should be used in SSCO. The results are discussed in terms of similarity-attraction theory and social role theory.

Biometrics in Practice: What Does HCI Have to Say?

This panel discusses biometric technologies from different perspectives in HCI in order to arrive at a coherent response that the community can give in this area. The challenges of doing this will also be of interest in terms of HCIs general influence on topical issues.

Dishonest Behavior at Self-Service Checkouts

Self-service technology could be argued as creating less personal transactions when compared to traditional checkouts involving a sales assistant for the entire transaction process, which may affect customer behavior. The aim of our study was to investigate the perceived influence of social presence at self-service checkouts by staff and its perceived effect on dishonest customer behavior. Twenty-six self-service checkout staff took part in a series of semi-structured interviews to describe customer behaviors with self-service. With respect to actual physical social presence, staff reported that more customer thefts occurred when the self-service checkouts were busy and their social presence was reduced. Staff also reported that perceived and actual social presence is likely to reduce thefts. Future research will elaborate to which extent the perceived social presence via technological systems might support staff in their task to assist customers and reduce dishonest behavior.

DiCER: A distributed consumer experience research method for use in public spaces ☆

Abstract This paper presents research into new ways in which organisations can gather field-based consumer insight particularly in public spaces. In an increasingly complex and fast moving business world, there is a need for quicker and more efficient consumer experience research that also provides a wider focus on the situation under investigation as required when studying urban spaces. The paper presents a method called DiCER for using large groups of non-specialists (i.e non-ethnographers) to make fieldwork observations working in a transdisciplinary setting with ethnographers and designers. In this method, groups of people are given a small amount of training and provided with support materials that allow them to make and report observations. The method provides a way of harnessing the potential of an organisation׳s staff for a shared goal of generating useful fieldwork material. The method was first tried out in two studies that investigated how collaborative activity could be facilitated in large public spaces. This helped identify issues related to the design of support materials whilst conducting fieldwork and explored ways of analysing and presenting the results of such activity. A follow-up study observed the activity of conversations between strangers waiting in a railway station concourse. The aim of this was to test both the method on a more focused problem and prototype tools to support recording observations in such a context. The outcomes were prototypes and interventions demonstrating potential techniques for gathering fieldwork material. A final study explored the potential of using a group of non-specialist employees distributed across an organisation to fulfil parts of a fieldwork project. This guided the development of training sessions for people with little prior knowledge of doing fieldwork. The main output was design recommendations for further applications of the method in a similar context.

An Experimental Study of Chinese Shopping Related Sharing Behaviors

Social media has become an increasingly important venue for social interaction and communication. Most previous research have shown the information sharing on social media platforms, but few focus on shopping related sharing (SRS) information and how these information influence consumer decision-making. Through a combination of interviews with observations in our lab to the users of social media and online shopping sites, we want to find answers to the question: what are the factors that influence Chinese consumers’ SRS behaviors? It was discovered that the factors like why, what, whom, where, when etc. have significant influence to Chinese consumers’ SRS behaviors. The study offers insights into the relationship between SRS and Chinese consumer decision-making, and design implications are discussed.