Page 34 -

1.10 Summary of Chapters 19

computers that are 100% secure. By definition, many security features are designed
to present a roadblock, to make users stop and think, to be hard. They are designed so
that users may not be successful all of the time. The best way to make a 100% usable
interface would be to remove all security features. Clearly, we can't do that. From the
HCI point of view, our goal is to reduce unnecessary difficulty. Right now, the typi-
cal user has so many passwords that they simply can't remember them or they choose
easy-to-remember (and easy to crack) passwords (Chiasson et al., 2008). Users may
write their passwords on a sheet of paper kept in their wallet, purse, or desk drawer
(none of which are secure), or they click on the feature that most web sites have saying,
“Can't remember your password? Click here!” and their password is e-mailed to them
(also not secure!). We suggest to readers to check out the annual ACM Symposium
on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS) for research on the intersection of usabil-
ity and security. Other inherent trade-offs occur in the area of sustainability. While
people working in the field of information technology may often be focused on new
and better devices and design, faster machines, and faster processing, this can lead to
high energy usage and a lot of waste. Sustainability means trying to encourage users
to limit their energy usage (Chetty et al., 2009), to keep using current devices, and to
reduce the amount of technology waste by allowing current devices to be repaired or
retrofitted, rather than just throwing the device out (Mankoff et al., 2007a). Millions of
current personal computers end up in landfills, poisoning the earth and water.
Being user centered, as HCI tends to be, also means being concerned about the
impacts of technology on human life. In the past, this meant that HCI researchers
were interested in reducing repetitive strain injuries from computer usage, whether
spending lots of time on the Internet made you depressed, and whether computer
frustration could impact on your health. How does all of our technology creation,
usage, and disposal impact on the quality of our life and the lives of future genera-
tions? Can persuasive devices and social networking be used to encourage us to lower
our ecological footprint? (Gustafsson and Gyllenswärd, 2005; Mankoff et al., 2007b).
Let's go back to our keyboard example: if all keyboards in the English-speaking world
were changed over to a different key layout (say, the DVORAK layout), there might
be some initial resistance by users but, eventually, user performance might improve.
However, how would those millions of keyboards in landfill impact on the quality of
human life? This is a new point to evaluate when considering how we do research in
HCI. What is the ecological impact of our research? What is the ecological impact of
new interfaces or devices that we build? While it is likely that we won't know in ad-
vance what type of ecological impact our research work will lead to, it's an important
consideration as we do our research, yet another inherent challenge in HCI.

1.10 SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS

Given that the topic of research methods in HCI is so broad, we have tried to give
approximately one chapter to each research method. However, the book starts out
with three chapters revolving around the topic of experimental design. Whole books