In today's increasingly interconnected world, cybersecurity is paramount, especially for critical infrastructure like power grids and water treatment facilities. The sources discuss the important role that user-centric design can play in the development of effective security solutions for industrial control systems (ICS).

The Importance of Understanding User Needs in ICS Design

Industrial control systems (ICS) are often complex and require specialized knowledge to operate. As such, security solutions designed for ICS must consider the unique needs of their users. Traditional approaches to security, which often prioritize data over user experience, are not always effective in these environments. For example, a safety engineer and a business director will have vastly different needs when it comes to understanding and responding to a cybersecurity threat.

This is where action design research (ADR) comes in. ADR is an iterative design process that emphasizes the importance of understanding user needs and involving users throughout the development lifecycle. This approach helps to ensure that the final product is not only technically sound but also usable and relevant to the people who will be using it.

Applying ADR to ICS Security Design: Personas and Wireframes

The sources describe how researchers used ADR to develop a user-centred security solution for ICS. Through interviews with industry experts, the researchers identified key user groups and their specific needs. For example, they found that ICS operators often need to make quick decisions about whether to take a system offline in response to a potential attack. However, the information they need to make these decisions is not always readily available or presented in a way that is easy to understand.

To address these challenges, the researchers used ADR principles to develop:

• Personas: These are fictional representations of different user groups, which helped the researchers to understand the needs and goals of each group. The personas highlighted the fact that users have different levels of knowledge about the physical process, cyber aspects, and profit/loss margins of the ICS.
• Wireframes: These are low-fidelity mockups of the proposed security solution's interface, which were used to gather feedback from the experts. The wireframes demonstrated how the system could provide different views tailored to different user groups, linking network traffic to safety alerts, providing risk assessments and confidence levels for alerts, and attaching financial value to devices and processes.

The Benefits of a User-Centric Approach to ICS Security

By using ADR, the researchers were able to develop a security solution that was more likely to be adopted and used effectively by ICS operators. The user-centric approach ensured that:

• The solution met the needs of a diverse group of stakeholders.
• The interface was intuitive and easy to use, even for users with limited technical expertise.
• The solution provided the information that operators needed to make informed decisions about ICS security.

DesignersX: Your Partner in User-Centred Design

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