Purpose The purpose of this research is to investigate user comprehension of ambiguous terminology in password rules. Although stringent password policies are in place to protect information system security, such complexity does not have to mean ambiguity for users. While many aspects of passwords have been studied, no research to date has systematically examined how ambiguous terminology affects user comprehension of password rules. Design/methodology/approach This research used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in a usable security study with 60 participants. Study tasks contained password rules based on real-world password requirements. Tasks consisted of character-selection tasks that varied the terms for non-alphanumeric characters to explore users’ interpretations of password rule language, and compliance-checking tasks to investigate how well users can apply their understanding of the allowed character space. Findings Results show that manipulating password rule terminology causes users’ interpretation of the allowed character space to shrink or expand. Users are confused by the terms “non-alphanumeric”, “symbols”, “special characters” and “punctuation marks” in password rules. Additionally, users are confused by partial lists of allowed characters using “e.g.” or “etc.” Practical implications This research provides data-driven usability guidance on constructing clearer language for password policies. Improving language clarity will help usability without sacrificing security, as simplifying password rule language does not change security requirements. Originality/value This is the first usable security study to systematically measure the effects of ambiguous password rules on user comprehension of the allowed character space.

Users of biometric systems have expanded from traditional law enforcement operators to the general population with diverse backgrounds. Past research has shown that usability was improved when users received real-time system feedback regarding their hand positioning and how to correct any undesirable positions. Users can perform fingerprint self-captures successfully by following real-time textual corrective instructions as reported by Choong, Theofanos and Guan. This paper builds on their work with two research questions: what symbols best convey the textual instructions, and, can diverse international users perform ten-print fingerprint self-captures by following graphics-only guidance with no language? We developed a prototype biometric self-capture kiosk to investigate these research questions. A total of 140 subjects participated in two controlled experiments. The findings show that the self-capture prototype is a highly usable system with evidence of great potential for supporting diverse users. By following the real-time graphics-only guidance, participants quickly learned, and were comfortable and confident to capture their own fingerprints without any assistance.

Compared with traditional password and other identification methods, biometrics such as face, iris, and fingerprints for automatic personal identification and verification have many advantages, and are increasingly gaining popularity in all kinds of applications. As the technologies mature, the community has begun to realize that usability has great impact on the final accuracy and efficiency of a biometric system. Although research has shown that effective user feedback can improve the quality of the fingerprint images captured and user satisfaction, currently user feedback information of fingerprint devices used in real world applications is very limited. We design a rich, quality-driven interactive real-time user feedback mechanism for unattended fingerprint kiosk. The system aims to improve the quality of biometric samples during the acquisition process by feeding rich information back to the user instantaneously by measuring objective parameters of the image. The paper proposes an innovative, cost-efficient, real-time algorithm for fingertip detection, slap/thumb rotation detection, and finger region intensity estimation. The paper provides detailed information on the technical solution and its implementation. Preliminary results show that the methodology can potentially increase efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction of a fingerprint biometric system.

There is a lack of widely-accepted metrics for evaluating analysts' experiences with interactive visualizations (IV) for information analysis. We report an approach for developing analyst-centered IV metrics that is built upon understanding the workplace needs and experiences of information analysts with respect to IVs. We derive metrics from human-computer interaction heuristics, specializing the metrics to address the characteristics of IVs and analysts. When there are no existing heuristics, analysts' needs and experiences inform new heuristics.

This study investigates the effects of cultural differences on computer performance of Chinese and American users and the design of appropriate interfaces for Chinese users. Past research documents the cognitive and cultural differences between the Chinese and the American populations. Those include cognitive style differences (Chinese as concrete and American as abstract) and thinking process differences (Chinese as thematic and American as functional). An experiment was conducted to investigate these differences, in which 40 Chinese participants residing in Mainland China and 40 American participants participated. The independent variables were knowledge representation (abstract and concrete) and interface structure (functional and thematic) of an information system. Results indicate that, for the Chinese participants, advantages were associated with concrete representation and with thematic structure in terms of initial performance time, but the advantages vanished for later performance due to learning. There were also advantages associated with thematic structure in terms of error rate throughout experimental trials.

The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of cultural differences in cognitive abilities between the American and Chinese users on their performance with icon displays. The goal was to provide insight for software developers whose products might have potential Chinese users. The key factor in this study was the presentation mode of icon displays, which could be alphanumeric elements only, pictorial elements only, or a combined mode (both elements). An experiment was conducted with 30 American and 30 Chinese subjects. The subjects performed recognition tasks using different presentation modes. Results indicate that for the American subjects there were advantages to alphanumeric and combined modes, compared to the pictorial mode, in terms of performance time and errors. For Chinese subjects, there were advantages to pictorial and combined modes, compared with alphanumeric mode; their initial error rate also was lower using a combined mode than when using an alphanumeric one.

Usability is becoming a more and more important software criterion, but the present usability measurement methods are either difficult to apply, or overly dependent upon evaluators' expertise. Based on human information processing theory, this study identified eight human factors considerations which are relevant to software usability. These considerations as well as the three stages of human information processing theory formed the framework from which our Purdue Usability Testing Questionnaire (PUTQ) is derived. An experiment was conducted to test the validity of PUTQ. The experiment result showed high correlation between PUTQ and the Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction (QUIS version 5.5). In addition, PUTQ detected the differences in user performance between two experimental interface systems, but QUIS failed to do so.