Communicating Risk in Online Transactions

Athens.
The final talk here at WebSci '09 is presented by Nick Papanikolau, whose interest is in communicating online risk more effectively to users, by drawing on lessons learnt from cognitive science. Online risks may include direct risks from user-to-user interaction as well as more indirect threats through viruses and malware - such threats are generally intangible, and user interface design may help make them more tangible.

Online security is now a concern to everyone, of course, but not everyone has a sufficient perception of the threats and risks which they are exposed to. The potential repercussions, however, are vast, and include the loss or theft of data as well as unauthorised access to it. In the offline world, there is substantial information on how humans perceive danger and risk, and this has been applied in a variety of ways (for example in communicating health risks and other medical advice) - but it does not necessarily translate directly to the online context, because of the comparative lack of tangibility.

This is a ultimately a question of visual communication, and there are few effective visuals for communicating uncertainty about the potential impact of particular tasks. (Nick uses the example of how different Web browsers show secure connections and site certifications to illustrate this point.) What's necessary are graphical representations of risk magnitude, the use of relevant analogies, and similar approaches. Such representations, and the accuracy of user perceptions of risk, can be empirically tested, of course.

Technorati : WebSci '09, cognitive science, interface design, privacy, risk, security
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