Usability and Workload Evaluation of a Cybersecurity Educational Game Application: A Case Study

Currently, social networks and Internet access have become a place that fosters risky experiences for their users, who are vulnerable and can become victims of violence, online abuse, extortion, etc. Therefore, it is considered necessary to make people aware of the appropriate use of information and...

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Main Authors: Santiago Criollo-C, Andrea Guerrero-Arias, Diego Buenano-Fernandez, Sergio Lujan-Mora
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2024-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10388296/
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author Santiago Criollo-C
Andrea Guerrero-Arias
Diego Buenano-Fernandez
Sergio Lujan-Mora
author_facet Santiago Criollo-C
Andrea Guerrero-Arias
Diego Buenano-Fernandez
Sergio Lujan-Mora
author_sort Santiago Criollo-C
collection DOAJ
description Currently, social networks and Internet access have become a place that fosters risky experiences for their users, who are vulnerable and can become victims of violence, online abuse, extortion, etc. Therefore, it is considered necessary to make people aware of the appropriate use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and Internet access, to minimize the risks and vulnerabilities associated with these practices. This research analyzes the use of a game-like mobile application called CiberSecApp, which was designed to support the teaching of basic cybersecurity. This application was designed as a game because gamification has been shown to generate motivation and keep users interested in long periods of time. In addition, the new generation of students perceives educational mobile apps as an innovative way to access educational content in a simple, ubiquitous, and portable way Unlike other similar initiatives in the existing literature, this research did not focus solely on the game design aspects, but also on evaluating the user experience. For this purpose, the IBM Computer Usability Satisfaction Questionnaires (CSUQ) and the NASA Task Load Index (TLX) were used to evaluate the usability of the mobile application and the mental workload generated by the participants. A total of 60 engineering students participated voluntarily in this research. The results obtained show that the use of gamification of educational content can support the teaching of cybersecurity by creating an intention of use and with a low mental workload for its users.
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spelling doaj.art-792ce760df96439496ceb15242217d7d2024-01-30T00:03:43ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362024-01-0112127711278410.1109/ACCESS.2024.335258910388296Usability and Workload Evaluation of a Cybersecurity Educational Game Application: A Case StudySantiago Criollo-C0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7212-5513Andrea Guerrero-Arias1Diego Buenano-Fernandez2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8123-2783Sergio Lujan-Mora3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5000-864XCarrera de Ingeniería en Ciberseguridad, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, EcuadorDepartamento EGB/BGU, Jezreel International Christian Academy, Quito, EcuadorCarrera de Ingeniería en Ciberseguridad, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, EcuadorDepartment of Software and Computing Systems, University of Alicante, Alicante, SpainCurrently, social networks and Internet access have become a place that fosters risky experiences for their users, who are vulnerable and can become victims of violence, online abuse, extortion, etc. Therefore, it is considered necessary to make people aware of the appropriate use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and Internet access, to minimize the risks and vulnerabilities associated with these practices. This research analyzes the use of a game-like mobile application called CiberSecApp, which was designed to support the teaching of basic cybersecurity. This application was designed as a game because gamification has been shown to generate motivation and keep users interested in long periods of time. In addition, the new generation of students perceives educational mobile apps as an innovative way to access educational content in a simple, ubiquitous, and portable way Unlike other similar initiatives in the existing literature, this research did not focus solely on the game design aspects, but also on evaluating the user experience. For this purpose, the IBM Computer Usability Satisfaction Questionnaires (CSUQ) and the NASA Task Load Index (TLX) were used to evaluate the usability of the mobile application and the mental workload generated by the participants. A total of 60 engineering students participated voluntarily in this research. The results obtained show that the use of gamification of educational content can support the teaching of cybersecurity by creating an intention of use and with a low mental workload for its users.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10388296/Gamificationmobile learningcybersecuritysecuritymobile gamesmobile app
spellingShingle Santiago Criollo-C
Andrea Guerrero-Arias
Diego Buenano-Fernandez
Sergio Lujan-Mora
Usability and Workload Evaluation of a Cybersecurity Educational Game Application: A Case Study
IEEE Access
Gamification
mobile learning
cybersecurity
security
mobile games
mobile app
title Usability and Workload Evaluation of a Cybersecurity Educational Game Application: A Case Study
title_full Usability and Workload Evaluation of a Cybersecurity Educational Game Application: A Case Study
title_fullStr Usability and Workload Evaluation of a Cybersecurity Educational Game Application: A Case Study
title_full_unstemmed Usability and Workload Evaluation of a Cybersecurity Educational Game Application: A Case Study
title_short Usability and Workload Evaluation of a Cybersecurity Educational Game Application: A Case Study
title_sort usability and workload evaluation of a cybersecurity educational game application a case study
topic Gamification
mobile learning
cybersecurity
security
mobile games
mobile app
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10388296/
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