Experience Centered Security

Timeframe: 2011-2014
Funder: EPSRC, TSB

The joint study of computer security, privacy and human- computer interaction (HCI) over the last two decades has shaped a research agenda focused upon usable privacy & security. However, in the fields of HCI and interaction design more generally there has long been an awareness of the need to understand and design for user experience, in recognition of the complex and multi-faceted role that technology now plays in our lives. In this project we explored the notion of experience- centered privacy and security and what methods and approaches may support inquiry around this.

In order to engage users of technology around issues related to experiences of privacy and security, research methods are required that may be outside of the normal repertoire of methods that we typically call upon. Building on work conducted with older adults, women leaving abusive relationships, and with geographically marginalised communities, we developed participatory and experience-cantered research methods that help reveal experiential insights into user interactions with privacy and security-related technologies. The work concluded by proposing a research agenda that begins to illustrate how the discourse and methods of experience-centered design might serve to provide valuable alternative perspectives on new and enduring user-facing privacy and security problems.