[Soups-announce] User Centered Security workshop at NordCHI

[Lorrie Faith Cranor]

This workshop is not affiliated with SOUPS. However, it was discussed  
at SOUPS this year and is likely to be of interest to many attendees.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Niels Raabjerg Mathiasen <nielsm at daimi.au.dk>
> Date: August 25, 2008 8:25:57 AM EDT
>
> At NordiCHI i Lund I arrange a workshop on User Centered Security.  
> The topic relates to a lot of the discussions that took place at  
> SOUPS this year. If you would like to proceed these discussion and  
> maybe take them further please attend the workshop: More info at: http://www.daimi.au.dk/~nielsm/UserCenteredSecurity/
>
> Description:
> The workshop will explore the possibilities of a user-centered  
> perspective on security. With exceptions, existing research may be  
> criticized for being highly system-centered, focusing on how one may  
> change user behavior to deal with the requirements of security, or  
> on how security aspects can be automated and made invisible to  
> users, only to foster problems as things break down. Perspectives  
> known from later waves of HCI, such as situated action,  
> transparency, mediation, etc. have barely been introduced into the  
> usable security arena and neither have e.g. user-centered,  
> participatory, value-based, human-centered or experience-based  
> design approaches. In accordance with the methodological and  
> conceptual development of HCI at large we see a need and a great  
> potential for a user-centered approach to usable security. The  
> workshop will outline a user-centered alternative, and discuss its  
> implications. We will address a possible change in perspective along  
> a number of dimensions, e.g. the span from threat to resource,  
> experience, scale, transparency, participation and democracy.
>
> The security area has recognized that usability and experience are  
> important for progressing IT security for everyday users. However,  
> there is much need to progress this research to embrace newer HCI  
> theory and methodology. Such also offers interesting alternative  
> conceptions to the security fieldʼs focus on threats, surveillance,  
> and on keeping security issues as hidden from the users as possible.  
> At the same time, security challenges HCI conceptions of e.g.  
> transparency and complexity. By truly offering second and third wave  
> HCI thinking to the security field, we project that it is possible  
> to bring forth a truly user centered approach to security. This  
> workshop further brings Scandinavian democratic thinking and  
> participatory design into the equation.