Usability Research: Onions - Valencia
Methodology: See Attachments Where: IFF18 Valencia, Spain Participants: Five (5)*
*This report shows results for 4 because a translation for the 5th user is required.
Results:
- Summary of demographics
- What users said
- Conclusion
1.
- The group consisted of 2 female and 3 male users aged 20-50.
- Most of them use Tor daily and referred to themselves as ‘Technologist that has a good understanding of tools and how things work.
2.
Q1 What do you think you the onion means?
- The interviewer was very engaging so and responses were sincere. Most users had 2-3 seconds delay but they see the onion as a safety icon
- Quote: “Green onion means that Tor is connected and working”
Q2 Why do you think these icons are different?
- Most users can tell that there’s a difference in level security say the onion with a lock is secure.
- They answered this question less confidently than Qn 1 (above).
Q3 What do you think this icon means?
- Most users are skeptical about the safety of this icon and identify that there is a problem
- Quote: "It means hey be cautious!"
Q4 What do you think this icon means?
- Most users answered tentatively to this question and give mildly different responses, more like ‘guesses’. They don’t know what is going on, but they know it’s bad...
- Quote: "I would think the FBI is attacking my computer right now"
Q5 Order these icons from less secure to more secure
- Most users understand that there are different levels of security and correctly ordered the icons.
- They all seem excited to answer this question.
3.
The sample group is well represented by males and females giving a broader view of how the icons are interpreted by the two sexes. They all have experience with technology and most are current users of the product. Users can identify the different states of icons. This is plus for the design team who worked hard on creating particular graphics for this purpose.