"Cybersecurity Computer-Based Training and Technical Communication Design"

Lysandwr McNary

Lysandwr McNary graduated from New Mexico Tech in spring of 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Technical Communication, after years spent in varied pursuits, from book publisher to United States Army Psychological Operations Specialist. Her time with the US Army, including two years in Iraq, provided many opportunities for studying cybersecurity, communication, and human behavior.

Contents

    Abstract

    Background

    Literature Review

    Methods

    Results

    Results (cont.)

    Results (cont.)

    Results (cont.)

    Conclusions

    Works Cited

    Acronym Glossary

    Appendix A

 Results (cont.)

TC Design

The module has significant deficiencies in accessibility, audience awareness, user-centered design and navigation, and text and visual rhetoric.

The initial screens introducing the heads up display and leading into the multi-media presentation (which creates a virtual world environment from the learner’s point of view, meant to replicate their computer workstation on a typical first day at the job) are consistent in font type, color use, and groupings. Later screens deviate from this format and occasionally appear as if they were inserted after the training module was completed. This detracts from the module’s overall credibility.

The primary font used on both the heads-up display and most of the screen text was obviously selected to appear modern and similar to a computer-generated text; however, it does not appear to have been selected for ease of reading or learner comfort, showing a lack of user-centered design and audience awareness. The text curves become problematic on screens with a lot of text blocked together (Figure 8).

The audio description button provided in support of 508 ADA compliance gives only brief audio descriptions of the visual appearing onscreen. If a learner requires the audio description they are unlikely to be able to finish this module. The audio description describes the visual presentation (for example, the point of view swings right to see a ringing phone) but fails to describe the exercise selections presented immediately after in text on the screen or where those selections are located, so a visually-impaired learner would not be able to complete the exercise. The audio description also ignores the text of “tips” screens. In addition, it could confuse or cause cognitive overload for users who don’t require audio assistance, as (like the closed captioning) it is defaulted to “on” when the module begins and must be located and turned off.

The grouping of the task screen as shown earlier (Figure 6), in which segments are placed into sections organized in a chronological context to replicate a typical day, is visually confusing in that the headers are over more than one section at a time. It is not clear whether this is meant to show how the sections are connected, but the groupings could cause cognitive dissonance in the learner. In addition, the only way to review a section is to use the open task list button and return to what is essentially the menu for just the tasks in the module or to restart the module completely. There are virtual environment clips and some exercise questions/information screens which cannot be rewound or replayed without restarting the module or repeating the segment prior to the screen or multi-media presentation which the learner wishes to review. As there are many “tips” screens with a great deal of text to remember, this does not appear to be a very user-friendly navigation design.

The screen designs are inconsistent; “tips” screens are initially always an unobtrusive, warm shade of brown with light text which serves two purposes: causing the screens to stand out from the cooler color palette of the exercises and game challenges, and (usually) providing a visually comfortable, easy to read block of text. Intermittently throughout the module, “tips” screens suddenly appear as white with black text that does not appear as integrated into the game/virtual world environment. When these screens have large blocks of text, they do not appear well-designed for learner absorption and retention. Additionally, they could yank the learner out of the module environment created by the heads up display and multi-media presentations (Figure 9).

As previously noted the learner has already completed the interactive element requiring the “tips” information and has little motivation to read and/or retain the “tips” screen rather than just clicking through. Additionally, learners have no barrier to simply entering random answers clicking through the entire module without any requirement to correctly complete a section before progressing. This clearly demonstrates a lack of navigation/user-centered design elements.

Each segment within a section has a game or challenge element. These are designed to stand out from the rest of the module, and are accompanied by more obtrusive music than the other elements. However, the number of colors and fonts used in these elements do not appear to be considered in light of target audience demographics (which range up to retirement age, for example) and are poor examples of TC design. The Password game element has six fonts in seven colors, including a difficult to read “leet” font. In addition, the color choices do not appear to have been tested for red/green color-blindness issues (Figure 10).

With eleven highly varied game elements in the module, the potential for stimulation overload is extremely high—this increases the likelihood of learners clicking through the module. The distracting visual rhetoric, combined with music and a variety of tasks to track, may not be effective or even appropriate for all members of the target audience.