The Sense of Security and Trust

Abstract

The sense of security, identified with the Japanese term, Anshin, is identified as an important contributor to emotional trust. This viewpoint suggests that designers should consider the subjective sense of security as well as objective security measures in designing systems and their user interfaces. A survey of users reveals both the personal and the environmental factors contributing to the users’ sense of security when using the Internet. A more encompassing view of Anshin as including safety, reliability, and other non-functional properties of systems may provide additional insights for system design.