Survey and Analysis of User Perceptions of Security Icons

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Abstract
In the security field, information dissemination and user cooperation are important, and icons are sometimes used to help users understand information. In this study, we conducted a survey on the current status of icons used in the security field and a questionnaire survey to understand the current status of icons used in the security field. In the survey, 1,146 icons in the security field were extracted from websites and documents of public institutions in Japan and labeled. These icons were analyzed to show that the current situation in which several different icons are assigned to a single term and the lack of consistency may hinder understanding. In addition, a questionnaire survey of 434 participants asked about the meanings of the icons extracted in the current survey and showed that the answers varied and that a common understanding may not have been formed. Furthermore, we showed that assigning the same meaning to different icons leads to confusion, regardless of the user’s knowledge or self-perception. On the basis of these findings, we recommend the creation of guidelines for defining security terms and icons to reduce the cognitive load on users. We believe that the results of this study will contribute to the future use of security icons and to the education and dissemination of information about them.