Exploring the User Experience Design of Commercially Available Cybersecurity Products for Personal Mobile Devices

Abstract

Research shows that when software is difficult to use, the users will either not use it or find ways to shortcut the software. In the case of cybersecurity applications, shortcutting exposes individuals and their organizations to potential threats. While most research in cybersecurity has focused on designing, implementing, and testing enterprise-scale systems, little research exists on cybersecurity for individual devices and especially not the user experience of those applications. Additionally, most literature on cybersecurity systems focuses on the technical aspects of the systems with little regard for the preferences of actual users. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the end user experience of consumer software for securing mobile devices from cyberattacks. Results generated from a three-part method of survey, heuristic analysis, and sentiment analysis suggest that user experience is not a significant obstacle in the adoption of mobile cybersecurity applications. The study, therefore, indicates that individuals’ choice not to protect their mobile devices is behavioral and not a user experience problem Future research should seek to better understand the attitudinal opposition to using mobile cybersecurity applications.