Link: http://delivery.acm.org.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu:2048/10.1145/1180000/117...
In this paper the authors attempt to highlight the need for usable interfaces for security related software. They use wireless network security configuration interfaces as an example. They introduce the notion that many people put using their network at a higher importance than securing them and in general have a limited understanding of wireless networks. This causes a large number of wireless networks to go unprotected. The authors begin by performing a baseline study where two popular interfaces for two popular routers are tested for effectiveness. The study showed that both routers were setup in the same amount of time and had similarly low security levels on average.
Using data from the baseline study the authors created their own user interface to address the problem of increasing the level of security on initial setup. They were able to increase the level of security that users able to set by adding a feedback bar to show how how secure the system was and what tasks they had accomplished while setting up the router. This provided the user with a general understanding of what sort of impact a particular setting has on the overall security of the system. This could be very important for users who have limited, to no knowledge of what particular settings are for.