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Personae are simple tools for describing users, their characteristics and their goals. They are valuable tools when designing for a specific group of users, such as children with autism spectrum condition (ASC). The purpose of this paper is to propose, validate and revise a methodology for creating accurate, data grounded personae for children with ASC.

The proposed method is based mainly on Cooper et al.’s (2007) persona construction method. It proposes gathering and analysing qualitative data from users and experts to either create a new persona or extend an existing one. The method is then applied to create personae for the design of a visual programming tool for children with ASC. Based on the results of the application, observations and lessons learnt, a revised version of the method is proposed.

The method’s combined use of user data and expert knowledge produced a set of personae that have been well reviewed by experts so far. The method’s use of a questionnaire to validate personae also produced relevant qualitative feedback. On review, possible downsides of extending existing personae were identified. Therefore, a revised method was introduced, eliminating the need to extend existing personae, and stressing the importance of utilising user data, expert knowledge and feedback.

This paper addresses the need for a well-defined method for creating data grounded personae that accurately describe the characteristics and goals of children with ASC. Such personae can be used to design and develop more accessible and usable products.

The purpose of this paper is to report on results of an investigation into the impact of adding privacy salient information (defined through the theory of planned behaviour) into the user interface (UI) of a faux social network.

Participants were asked to create their profiles on a new social network specifically for Nottingham Trent University students by answering a series of questions that vary in the sensitivity of personal information requested. A treatment is designed that allows participants to review their answers and make amendments based on suggestions from the treatment. A dynamic privacy score that improves as amendments are made is designed to encourage privacy-oriented behaviour. Results from the treatment group are compared to a control group.

Participants within the treatment group disclosed less than those in the control with statistical significance. The more sensitive questions in particular were answered less when compared to the control, suggesting that participants were making more privacy-conscious decisions.

Work within this paper suggests that simple UI changes can promote more privacy-conscious behaviour. These simple changes could provide a low-cost method to ensuring the Internet safety of a wide range of users.

This study provides a clear definition of privacy salient UI mechanisms based on a well-established theory of behaviour and examines their potential effect on end-users through a novel experiment. Results and methods from this work can enable researchers to better understand privacy behaviour.