The thorny problem of usability has been recognized in the security community for many years, but has, so far, eluded systematic solution. We characterize the problem as a gap between theoretical and effective levels of security, and consider the characteristics of the problem. The approach we are taking focuses on visibility- how can we make relevant features of the security context apparent to users, in order to allow them to make informed decisions about their actions and the potential implications of those actions?

We created the characters Agneta & Frida with the intent to strengthen and encourage exploration of information spaces. In a follow-up study we tried to capture whether users found the characters believable, whether they raised affective responses in users, and whether they created a richer more narratively oriented experience of the space. In order to do so, we had to develop new criteria and methods of understanding users ’ conceptions and affective responses. We discuss the study in detail, as well as the general implications for how to perform user studies and design of character-enhanced systems. 1

A metaphor allows us to understand one concept in terms of another, enriching our mental imagery and imbuing concepts with meaningful attributes. Metaphors are well studied in design, for example, in branding, communication and the design of computer interfaces. Less well appreciated is that our understanding of fundamental design concepts, including design itself, is metaphorical. When we treat design as a process of exploration or when we get together to “bounce ideas off each other ” we understand the abstract concepts of design and ideas metaphorically; ideas don’t literally bounce, nor are we literally exploring when we design. Our research is a descriptive study of the metaphors employed in design. It is the first phase in a longer research effort to understand the impact of design metaphors on creativity. We investigated whether design authors employed different metaphors for the overall design process and consequently for core design concepts. To address this hypothesis we analyzed the language used in the concept generation chapters of nine widely used engineering design textbooks. We coded each metaphorical phrase, such as “finding another route to a solution, ” and determined the core metaphors in use for common design concepts including, ideas, problems, solutions, concepts, design, the design process, user needs and others. We confirmed that authors with differing views of design do indeed emphasize different metaphors for core design concepts. We close by discussing the implications of some common metaphors, in particular that Ideas Are Physical Objects.

Among Internet users in Accra, Ghana rumors often supplanted direct human-machine interaction as the privileged mode for understanding how the Internet works. Over the course of 8-months of ethnographic fieldwork in this West African, urban capital city, rumor emerged as one of several important processes through which users reinvented the Internet. Rumor amplified rare instances of wildly successful or harmful encounters with the Internet. This was particularly apparent in discussions of Internet fraud and scamming activities which seemed more widespread as a phenomenon of speech and social imagination than as one of Internet use. Significantly, many young Internet users who admitted that they had not yet made any money on the Internet expressed the conviction that it was being widely used by clever, young Ghanaians (and others) to acquire thousands of dollars, the latest fashion, or the newest technologies by duping unsuspecting foreigners. Through the creation and diffusion of meanings in rumors, the Internet was collaboratively produced by Internet users in Accra as a tool for making ‘big gains.’ This contradicts a line of thinking that sees speech/media communications about

‘During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.’ from a CNN interview with Al Gore, March 9, 1999

The study of ‘accounts’ as they relate to the activities accounted for is an established area of interest in social theory. This article is an analysis of rumors about Internet scamming told by Internet café users in the West African capital city of Accra, Ghana. Rumors served as accounts of how the Internet can be effectively operated by young Ghanaians to realize ‘big gains’ through foreign connections. Yet these accounts were contradicted by the less promising direct experiences users had at the computer interface. By considering how these contradictions are maintained, this analysis contributes to models of technology diffusion and adoption as they apply to a developing world context. Rumors amplified evidence of wildly successful as well as especially harmful encounters with the Internet. Rather than simply transferring information, through the telling of rumors Internet users reclaimed a social stability that was disrupted by the presence of the Internet. These stories cast young Ghanaian Internet users as both ‘good’ and ‘effective’ in relation to the Internet.

notes contain the main point of each chapter THIS THESIS is an exploration of some design issues that emerge from what seems to be typical ways of conducting computerization and virtualization. These ways tend to neglect what I refer to as the dual nature of artifacts. The duality concerns different levels of meaning. An artifact may be considered to have a meaning primarily related to its function, intended or otherwise. This meaning is typically realized through organization of matter into form by means of design. However, the realization of functional meaning—the form of the artifact—often carries with it some circumstantial consequences that influence the use and interpretation of the artifact. So, in addition to meaning related to function, artifacts are often associated with meaning related to aspects of form,

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