Designing Emergency Response Applications for Better Performance

Emergency responders often work in time pressured situations and depend on fast access to key information. One of the problems studied in human-computer interaction (HCI) research is the design of interfaces to improve user information selection and processing performance. Based on prior research findings this study proposes that information selection of target information in emergency response applications can be improved by using supplementary cues. The research is motivated by cue-summation theory and research findings on parallel and associative processing. Color-coding and location-ordering are proposed as relevant cues that can improve ERS processing performance by providing prioritization heuristics. An experimental ERS is developed users’ performance is tested under conditions of varying complexity and time pressure. The results suggest that supplementary cues significantly improve performance, with the best results obtained when both cues are used. Additionally, the use of these cues becomes more beneficial as time pressure and complexity increase

Establishing Best Practices for Scholarly Research Based on the Tenets of Human-Computer Interaction

This commentary will not predict future directions of HCI, or impose a research agenda. Rather, I will reason general advice regarding the four main tenets of HCI in hopes of providing guidance for future research. Mindful that interaction is the ultimate phenomenon of interest to HCI; I assert that scholars should situate their work within the tenets in such a way as to address both design and use/impact (with one or both being emphasized). To assist toward this end, I provide a diagram and accompanying examples from the literature. I also address the importance of design as a component that distinguishes HCI from IS, drawing on more examples from the literature. This commentary is intended to serve academics by providing a clear framework in which to think about and compose their work going forward. I also encourage readers to challenge the model and examples I present here. At the most, this will spark a productive debate about the nature of HCI research in IS; while at the least, it will help the reader solidify an understanding of how to define HCI and conduct appropriate research

The Role of Time Pressure, Cue Utilisation, and Information Security Awareness on Phishing Email Susceptibility

This item is only available electronically.Phishing emails are emails which attempt to solicit sensitive information from unsuspecting users. Phishing represents a major threat to information security. To develop interventions aimed at reducing phishing susceptibility, an understanding of how emails are evaluated to determine their legitimacy, and individual differences that may predict phishing email susceptibility is required. The current study aims to examine the relationship between phishing susceptibility and time pressure, along with individual differences in cue utilisation and information security awareness (ISA). In an online study, 127 participants were randomly assigned to either a 7-second or 15-second time condition and were presented with 60 emails (40 genuine and 20 phishing). Emails were presented one at a time for the duration corresponding with each participant’s time condition. Participants were required to sort each email into one of ten categories. The ‘phishing’ category was considered a hit when chosen following a phishing email, and a false alarm when following a genuine email. Participants also completed an assessment of cue utilisation in the domain of phishing, and the Human Aspects of Information Security Questionnaire (HAIS-Q). Statistical analyses revealed that a higher level of cue utilisation, a shorter email exposure duration and higher ISA resulted in reduced ability to differentiate between phishing and genuine emails. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between cue utilisation and ISA, however, there was no interaction between time pressure and cue utilisation on phishing susceptibility. This study’s outcomes may aid in the development of training and education programs aimed at reducing phishing susceptibility.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 202

Effective Use of Information Systems for Emergency Management: a Representation Theory Perspective

Effective Use Theory (EUT) has emerged as a promising native Information Systems (IS) theory to understand a central phenomenon of interest to the discipline: the effective use of information systems. While EUT is widely accepted in operational control and management control contexts, its validity in chaotic environments has yet to be demonstrated. To contribute to the research program in EUT, scholars called for contextualizing and assessing EUT in chaotic environment, such as emergencies or crises events. This research seeks to apply EUT to understand the effective use of emergency information systems (EMIS). Seeking a grand theory of effective use in EMIS helps the onset of a structured research program and the development of a cumulative research tradition. That fosters EMIS as a would-be reference discipline for cross-disciplinary scholarship in emergency management. Moreover, assessing EUT in the edge context of emergencies, contributes to theory development by problematizing on assumptions that scholars have been considering unproblematic