Why Do Developers Get Password Storage Wrong? A Qualitative Usability Study

Passwords are still a mainstay of various security systems, as well as the cause of many usability issues. For end-users, many of these issues have been studied extensively, highlighting problems and informing design decisions for better policies and motivating research into alternatives. However, end-users are not the only ones who have usability problems with passwords! Developers who are tasked with writing the code by which passwords are stored must do so securely. Yet history has shown that this complex task often fails due to human error with catastrophic results. While an end-user who selects a bad password can have dire consequences, the consequences of a developer who forgets to hash and salt a password database can lead to far larger problems. In this paper we present a first qualitative usability study with 20 computer science students to discover how developers deal with password storage and to inform research into aiding developers in the creation of secure password systems

Beyond the Usability Lab: Conducting Large-scale Online User Experience Studies

Usability testing and user experience research typically take place in a controlled lab with small groups. While this type of testing is essential to user experience design, more companies are also looking to test large sample sizes to be able compare data according to specific user populations and see how their experiences differ across user groups. But few usability professionals have experience in setting up these studies, analyzing the data, and presenting it in effective ways.  Online usability testing offers the solution by allowing testers to elicit feedback simultaneously from 1,

24-29). Older Adults and Web Usability; Is Web Experience the Same as Web Expertise? Paper presented at the CHI2004

Level of Web experience is often a factor for which researchers attempt to control while conducting experimental studies on Web usability. It is typically measured by some means of selfassessment that often includes questions regarding long-term usage, frequency of use, and the types of activities performed while using the Web. A common assumption is that Web experience is the same as Web expertise (high experience = high expertise). In our research studies primarily focused on Web usability and older adults, we found that even when Web experience is controlled, older adults still demonstrated less Web expertise than younger adults. Our research has supported the hypothesis that Web expertise is significantly influenced by how users learned the Web- or their cumulative time spent in collaborative learning environments (learning from and with others) – rather than just how long or how often they have used it. Preliminary results in our labs demonstrate a positive correlation between opportunities for collaborative learning and Web expertise, as well as a negative correlation between opportunities for collaborative learning and age. These results support the need to reassess how best to measure Web expertise and how we might improve Web interaction for older adults

Demographic Differences in Preferred Web Site Content. Aging by Design” Presentation at Bentley

Users of different ages and gender were asked to physically “build ” their ideal financial services homepage by choosing pieces of actual Web page content that were printed on magnetic paper. By sticking the pieces of content within a simulated Web browser that was fixed on to a magnetic white board, users could build their homepage. Both age and gender were demonstrated to affect the content that users chose to place on their homepage. For example, males added more news-type content, females added more pictures, and older users were more likely to add a help feature. More research is needed to learn more about how age and gender affect Web site preferences

Book reviews

Transnational Corporations and the Global Economy. Edited by Richard Kozul-Wright and Robert Rowthorn. Basingstoke: Macmillan (for United Nations University and World Institute for Development Economics Research), 1998. Pp.448. �55. ISBN 0 333 68957 7 The New Global Economy and Developing Countries: Making Openness Work. By Dani Rodrik. Washington, DC: Overseas Development Council, 1999. Pp.x + 168. $13.95. ISBN 1 56517 027 X Information, Management and Participation: A New Approach from Public Health in Brazil. By Francesco Notarbartolo Di Villarosa London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 1998. Pp.xxiii + 145. �19.50/$24.50. ISBN 0 7146 4353 X Informal Politics: Street Vendors and the State in Mexico City. By John Cross. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998. Pp.x + 272. �35 and �11.95. ISBN 08047 3060 1 and 3062 8 Evaluation Frameworks for Development Programmes and Projects. By R. Dale. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1998. Pp.151. �25 and �11.99. ISBN 0 7619 9239 1 and 9240 5 Tourism, Development and Growth: The Challenge of Sustainability. Edited by Salah Wahab and John J. Pigram. London: Routledge, 1997. Pp.320. �50 and �15.99. ISBN 0 415 16001 4 and 16002 2 Tourism and Economic Development in Asia and Australasia. Edited by Frank M. Go and Carson L. Jenkins. London: Cassell, 1997. Pp.384. �60 and �18.99. ISBN 1 85567 417 3 and 567 6 Tourism and Sustainability: New Tourism in the Third World. By Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt. London: Routledge, 1997. Pp.384. �50 and �16.99. ISBN 0 415 13763 2 and 13764 0 Sustainable Rural Development By Andrew Shepherd.Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1998. Pp.304. �40 and �12.99. ISBN 0333 66484 1 and 66485 X Collaboration in International Rural Development: A Practitioner's Handbook. By George H. Axinn and Nancy W. Axinn. London and New Delhi: Sage, 1997. Pp.336. �27.50 and �13. ISBN 0761 99200 6 and 92014 Learning from Somalia: The Lessons of Armed Humanitarian Intervention. Edited by Walter Clarke and Jeffrey Herbst. Oxford: Westview, 1997. Pp.xi + 276. �11.95 and �41.50. ISBN 0 8133 2794 6 and 2793 8 Between Development and Destruction: An Enquiry into the Causes of Conflict in Post-Colonial States. Edited by Luc Van de Goor, Kumar Rupesinghe and Paul Sciarone. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1996. Pp.xx + 376. �14.99. ISBN 1 0333 65038 7