1993-10-09 - PGP Interface

Header Data

From: Ian Smith <iansmith@cc.gatech.edu>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Message Hash: 297d655402c2c7c612c5851ba52c4b563e4e1610f39819d88145a0a299c734d7
Message ID: <199310092340.AA17343@haring.cc.gatech.edu.cc.gatech.edu>
Reply To: N/A
UTC Datetime: 1993-10-09 23:45:59 UTC
Raw Date: Sat, 9 Oct 93 16:45:59 PDT

Raw message

From: Ian Smith <iansmith@cc.gatech.edu>
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 93 16:45:59 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: PGP Interface
Message-ID: <199310092340.AA17343@haring.cc.gatech.edu.cc.gatech.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



As part of class project here at Ga. Tech, we are designing/implementing a new
(graphical) interface for the program PGP, Pretty Good Privacy. 

To do this well, we need information about the potential user community of
such an interface, and the pros/cons of the existing PGP interface...
thus we are sending out this questions

As mentioned in the survey, the data collected will be kept confidential,
and we encourage the replies to this survey to be sent via anonymous
remailers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         CS 6144 Design Project
                           User Questionnaire
                                  
         The following questionnaire is for a Computer Science Class
         project assignment.  The information that you provide will be
         used for designing a computer interface for an electronic
         mail enhancement.  Data collected in this survey will be kept
         STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and will only be reported in an
         aggregated form.  We would appreciate it if you would take a
         few minutes to complete it.  Completed questionnaires, or any
         questions you may have concerning this questionnaire may be
         mailed to iansmith@cc.gatech.edu. Please complete it and
         return it as soon as possible.
 
         Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.


Please mark an 'X' under the column that most closely describes your
response.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL COMPUTER  USAGE
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1. How often do you use:

                           Frequently      Occasionally   Seldomly
                                3               2              1
        a. a computer
                               ---             ---            ---
        b. Electronic Mail
                               ---             ---            ---

                                                     
2. Do you use a computer for:
                                      Yes     No
                a. business use?
                                      ---     ---
                b. personal use?
                                      ---     ---
                c. file transfer?
                                      ---     ---

3. In what type of environment do you MOST OFTEN use a computer?
   (Please mark only ONE of the following)
                                                Use Most
                     LAN (Local Area Network):
                                                ---
        WAN (Wide Area Network  e.g.Internet):
                                                ---
              Laptop or Portable WITH a modem:
                                                ---
           Laptop or Portable WITHOUT a modem:
                                                ---
   Stand alone PC (not a laptop) WITH a modem:
                                                ---
Stand alone PC (not a laptop) WITHOUT a modem:
                                                ---
Other (please specify):
                        _________________________________________


----------------------------------------------------------------------
ELECTRONIC MAIL
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4.  Which of the following interfaces do you most often use for
    electronic mail (e-mail)?
                                       Use Most
                  Text only interface:
                                       ---
             Graphical only interface:
                                       ---
     Combination (text and graphical):
                                       ---
               Other (please specify):
                                      -------------------------------
         
5. Do you ever send e-mail messages you ONLY want the recipient(s) to read?
                        Often     Sometimes    Seldomly      Never
                          3           2           1           0
        
                         ---         ---         ---         ---     


6.  Have you ever had occasion to believe a mail message you recieved
was forged?
                Yes              No             

                ---             ---

         
7.  When sending/receiving e-mail, how much additional time would you
be willing to spend to:

                        Less than  5 to 30   30 sec.      More than
                        5 seconds  seconds   to a minute   a minute
  Digitially 'sign' your
                message:
                        ---          ---        ---          ---
Authenticate the sender:
                        ---          ---        ---          ---
  Prevent eavesdropping:
                        ---          ---        ---          ---


8.  Does the amount of time you would be willing to spend in the
previous question depend on:
                                        Yes             No
Person the info was being sent to:
                                        ---             ---
        Your workload at the time:
                                        ---             ---
         Contents of the mail/msg:
                                        ---             ---


9.  Encryption is a common method of protecting information
transmitted.  The basic mechanism works as follows: 
              
         The information or message (text) is encoded from its initial
         readable form, to an internal form by means of a 'key'.  This
         internal text form (ciphertext), although readable, does not
         make any sense.  To make sense of the cipher text, the
         receiver must decode it (with a 'key') back into its initial
         readable form. If the encoded information is accessed by an
         unauthorized person, it will be useless unless it can be
         decoded (i.e. a person has a 'key' for it).
              
                                                Yes     No
    9A. Are you familiar with this concept?
                                                ---     ---
    
    9B. Have you ever used encryption?
                                                ---     ---
         
    9C. Have you ever encrypted files or mail?
                                                ---     ---
    
The following questions relate to specifics about encryption use.  If
you answered 'NO' to ANY of the three questions above (9A, 9B, or 9C),
please skip to the Background Information Section (questions 19-23).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENCRYPTION USERS ONLY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
10. What encryption software have you used?
                            PGP:
                                 ---
                          Crypt:
                                 ---
         Other (please specify):
                                 -------------------------------
         
         
11. Have you used the encryption software because
                                                        Yes     No
                                        You like it:
                                                        ---     ---
                It was the industry/school standard:
                                                        ---     ---
                        It was the only one you had:
                                                        ---     ---
      It was used by others that you interract with:
                                                        ---     ---
                Industry/school required it be used:
                                                        ---     ---
         
         
         
12. Would you say the size of file(s) or message(s) you usually encrypt
tend(s) to be:
    
        (4Kb+)          (1Kb-4Kb)       (100b-1Kb)      (<100b)
        VERY large      Large           Medium          Small
    
         ---             ---             ---             ---


13.  Have you ever spent multiple attempts trying to encrypt
something? 
                Yes             No

                ---             ---


14.  What is the most common error you have encounterd trying to
encrypt something?

Most common error:
                -----------------------------------------------



15. What is the frequency that you have made the following errors when
encrypting something:
                                Very often  Sometimes  Seldomly   Never
                                    3           2          1        0
                 Typing mistakes:
                                   ---         ---        ---      ---
            Forgetting passwords:
                                   ---         ---        ---      ---
      Misusing options/functions:
                                   ---         ---        ---      ---
             Losing others' keys:
                                   ---         ---        ---      ---

          Other (please specify):
                                --------------------------------------



16. Please rate the following features of encryption software
in terms of the importance of the feature to you:
    
                                Very      Somewhat   Not Very     Not
                                Important  Important  Important  Important
                                   3           2         1         0
    Integration with other tools: 
                                   ---       ---       ---        ---
        Time it takes to encrypt:
                                   ---       ---       ---        ---
        Time it takes to decrypt:
                                   ---       ---       ---        ---
 Time it takes to digitally sign:
                                   ---       ---       ---        ---
   Time it takes to authenticate:
                                   ---       ---       ---        ---
          Distribution of 'Keys':
                                   ---       ---       ---        ---   
    Security of message contents:
                                   ---       ---       ---        ---
          Other (please specify):
                                 ----------------------------------

17.  Please indicate which of the two attributes in each pair is MORE
important to you:

  How long it takes ME            vs.     How long it takes the recipient

        ---                                          ---

  Difficulty to encrypt           vs.     Security gained by encryption
        
        ---                                          ---

  Security gained by encryption   vs.     Time it takes to encrypt

        ---                                          ---
    

18.  Overall, how satisfied are you with the encryption software that you use?

        Very            Somewhat        Not very        Not at all
        Satisfied       Satisfied       Satisfied       Satisfied
          3                 2              1                0

         ---               ---            ---               ---


(optional comments:)
                -------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------
19. What is your age (in years)?
                                ------------------

20. Are you Male?            Female?
                ---                ---

21. What is the highest level of an educational degree that you hold?
        HS      AA      BA/BS   MA/MS   PhD     other(specify)

        ---     ---     ---     ---     ---    -------------------


                                        Yes     No
22. Are you currently a college student? 
                                        ---     ---

   22a. If (YES) you are a student, what is your major field of study?
        Major:
        --------------------------------------------------

   22b. If (NO) you are NOT a student, what is your occupation?
        Occupation:
        ---------------------------------------------------


23.  We welcome any additional comments that you might have.  Please
feel free to add any comments, questions, or suggestions in the space
below:




=====================================================================
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO COMPLETE THIS
QUESTIONNAIRE.  
(Please return it to iansmith@cc.gatech.edu as soon as possible.)
======================================================================








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