Eye tracking study of Firefox EV indicators

Hi all,


Jennifer Sobey and her colleagues at Carleton University published a paper
that our group should be aware of:

http://www.scs.carleton.ca/research/tech_reports/index.php?Abstract=tr-08-10_0010&Year=2008


They conducted an eye tracking study of people using Firefox 3 and observed
whether people noticed EV indicators.  They conclude that the new indicators
are ineffective because none of the participants noticed them or discovered
the clickable regions that reveal site identity details.  The study tested
the Firefox 3 Beta 1 release, but the results are still relevant to the
interface in the current release.


They also experimented with a new interface for an "identity confidence
meter", which is similar to some of the interfaces that we've discussed in
the Web Security Score proposal.


The authors welcome our comments on the study.


Rachna