Joanne Hinds

Promoting awareness of depression with a mobile application: A usability study and evaluation

This paper reports selected results from a study designed to understand the potential and limitations of a mobile application in promoting health awareness of depression to patients, their families and others. The mobile application was developed with a user-centered approach, which emphasized user preferences and opinions throughout an iterative process of development. It comprised medical information about depression, and causes, symptoms and methods of treatment. We conducted several design and evaluation sessions with a group of users (patients, their family, doctors, nurses and general users). Our findings demonstrate that the mobile medical application has the potential to improve and increase awareness among patients and their family members.

Exploring susceptibility to phishing in the workplace

Abstract Phishing emails provide a means to infiltrate the technical systems of organisations by encouraging employees to click on malicious links or attachments. Despite the use of awareness campaigns and phishing simulations, employees remain vulnerable to phishing emails. The present research uses a mixed methods approach to explore employee susceptibility to targeted phishing emails, known as spear phishing. In study one, nine spear phishing simulation emails sent to 62,000 employees over a six-week period were rated according to the presence of authority and urgency influence techniques. Results demonstrated that the presence of authority cues increased the likelihood that a user would click a suspicious link contained in an email. In study two, six focus groups were conducted in a second organisation to explore whether additional factors within the work environment impact employee susceptibility to spear phishing. We discuss these factors in relation to current theoretical approaches and provide implications for user communities.

Radicalization, the Internet and Cybersecurity: Opportunities and Challenges for HCI

The idea that the internet may enable an individual to become radicalized has been of increasing concern over the last two decades. Indeed, the internet provides individuals with an opportunity to access vast amounts of information and to connect to new people and new groups. Together, these prospects may create a compelling argument that radicalization via the internet is plausible. So, is this really the case? Can viewing ‘radicalizing’ material and interacting with others online actually cause someone to subsequently commit violent and/or extremist acts? In this article, we discuss the potential role of the internet in radicalization and relate to how cybersecurity and certain HCI ‘affordances’ may support it. We focus on how the design of systems provides opportunities for extremist messages to spread and gain credence, and how an application of HCI and user-centered understanding of online behavior and cybersecurity might be used to counter extremist messages. By drawing upon existing research that may be used to further understand and address internet radicalization, we discuss some future research directions and associated challenges.

Supporting social pretend play with a virtual toy

This paper presents selected results from a study designed to explore childrens social pretend play in a virtual setting. Fourteen children (aged 5--8) played in pairs with a mobile-based game implemented on an Apple iPad. Interviews and video transcriptions were used to assess three types of social pretend play, which included solitary, simple and associative. Our findings revealed the ways children engaged with the virtual toy and demonstrate social pretend play. We discuss the implications of these findings and provide a series of design implications for designers and researchers.