Usable Security and Privacy
This course examines designing systems and interfaces for security and privacy from a user-centered perspective, covering HCI techniques for evaluating these designs across domains like mobile devices and AI.
Summary
What you’ll be able to do
Describe the design constraints (both usability and security) that underlie modern human-facing cybersecurity technologies.
Identify properties of humans, rooted in social sciences, that impact the design of cybersecurity technologies.
Apply basic user research and user experience methods to design novel cybersecurity systems.
Apply basic user research and user experience methods to design novel cybersecurity communications.
Describe design ideas clearly and effectively.
Evaluate published research on usable security designs.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
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Prerequisites
Course mapJunior standing
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- Junior standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
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Calendar & sections
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Student experience
the class
Examines how to design systems and interfaces for security and privacy from a user-centered perspective. Understand how core security and privacy technologies are designed for users, as well as Human Computer Interaction (HCI) techniques for conducting robust user studies to evaluate and improve those designs. Critically examine interfaces for usable authentication, user-centered web security, privacy notices, phishing, and security warnings in domains ranging from mobile devices to social media to Internet of Things to Artificial Intelligence.
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Core security and privacy technologies designed for users
- Interfaces for authentication, web security, privacy notices, phishing, and security warnings
- Security and privacy in mobile devices, social media, IoT, and AI
Skills
- Designing secure and private systems and interfaces using user-centered principles
- Conducting user studies using HCI techniques to evaluate security and privacy designs
- Critically examining interfaces for authentication, web security, privacy notices, phishing, and security warnings
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Catalog & offerings
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Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
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Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "867c02e595ed1de3782c2db4a051b6ff73fd52781863790c0c2e519855552da3",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}