Case study 04

Guided secure network design

Co-authored a study examining how lightweight guidance influenced participants' security and usability decisions when designing a simulated SME network.

Security & usability
User study
Co-author

10participants

79.4guided group average score

46.4unguided group average score

How the study ran

Participants were split into guided and unguided groups. Each designed a simulated SME network with written justifications, scored under the same rubric.

Average security-design score

Guided group79.4

Unguided group46.4

Scores under the study rubric. With ten participants in total, this is an observation from a small study, not a measured effect.

View data table

Group	Average score
Guided	79.4
Unguided	46.4

Study design

Ten participants were divided between guided and unguided groups. The team assessed network layouts, design justifications and participant feedback.

Reported observations

The guided group achieved a higher average security-design score, 79.4 versus 46.4 under the study rubric. This is an observation from a small academic study, not a measured improvement in a production network.

Contribution

Team research and co-authorship of the resulting SUTD report.

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