Exploring the Use of Pictograms in Privacy Agreements to Facilitate Communication Between Users and Data Collecting Entities: Randomized Controlled Trial

Larissa Ugaya Mazza; Laura Xavier Fadrique; Amethyst Kuang; Tania Donovska; Hélène Vaillancourt; Jennifer Teague; Victoria A Hailey; Stephen Michell; Plinio Pelegrini Morita

doi:10.2196/34855

Exploring the Use of Pictograms in Privacy Agreements to Facilitate Communication Between Users and Data Collecting Entities: Randomized Controlled Trial

JMIR Hum Factors. 2023 Jan 25:10:e34855. doi: 10.2196/34855.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
² Institute of Health Policy, Managment, and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Canadian Standards Association Group, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁴ Victoria Hailey Group Corporation, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Canadian Standards Association Group, Etobicoke, ON, Canada.
⁶ eHealth Innovation, Techna Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁷ Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 36696167
PMCID: PMC9947808
DOI: 10.2196/34855

Abstract

Background: Privacy agreements can foster trust between users and data collecting entities by reducing the fear of data sharing. Users typically identify concerns with their data privacy settings, but due to the complexity and length of privacy agreements, users opt to quickly consent and agree to the terms without fully understanding them.

Objective: This study explores the use of pictograms as potential elements to assist in improving the transparency and explanation of privacy agreements.

Methods: During the development of the pictograms, the Double Diamond design process was applied for 3 instances of user interactions and 3 iterations of pictograms. The testing was done by performing a comparative study between a control group, which received no pictograms, and an experimental group, which received pictograms. The pictograms were individually tested to assess their efficacy by using an estimated comprehension of information symbols test.

Results: A total of 57 participants were recruited for the pictogram evaluation phase. With the addition of pictograms, the overall understanding improved by 13% (P=.001), and the average time spent answering the questions decreased by 57.33 seconds. A 9% decrease in perceived user frustration was also reported by users, but the difference was not significant (χ²₄=4.80; P=.31). Additionally, none of the pictograms passed the estimated comprehension of information symbols test, with 7 being discarded immediately and 5 requiring further testing to assess their efficacy.

Conclusions: The addition of pictograms appeared to improve users' understanding of the privacy agreements, despite the pictograms needing further changes to be more understandable. This proves that with the aid of pictographic images, it is possible to make privacy agreements more accessible, thereby allowing trust and open communication to be fostered between users and data collecting entities.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05631210; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05631210.

Keywords: pictograms; privacy agreements; transparency; user trust.

©Larissa Ugaya Mazza, Laura Xavier Fadrique, Amethyst Kuang, Tania Donovska, Hélène Vaillancourt, Jennifer Teague, Victoria A Hailey, Stephen Michell, Plinio Pelegrini Morita. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (https://humanfactors.jmir.org), 25.01.2023.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT05631210