Novel, comic-based approach to smartphone permission requests

Abstract

This doctoral thesis investigates comics as a medium for presenting permission requests to users of smartphones and assessing how they can be used to support the users in making more informed decisions. Through three empirical studies, this thesis has generated insights into the creation of comic-based permission requests, the impact they have and what users would expect from them. In the first study, three co-design workshops were run where participants created their own comic requests, generating a series of design considerations for comic-based permission requests to better inform users. These considerations were used to design and develop the comic requests used in the subsequent studies to investigate if they supported users in making informed decisions in a balanced way. The comic-based permissions were evaluated by users in an online survey (Study 2) and in a WebApp (Study 3), to affirm the viability and the reliability of the considerations. The results of the evaluations suggest that comics are a viable medium to display more informative permission requests which help inform users and promote more informed decisions.