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Martin Prinz, Tobias Seitz
Towards a Mental Model of Password Management Software
Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS EA 2017) (bib)

Password managers offer a number of benefits but they are still not widely adopted. In this paper, we try to explain the low adoption rates with a mismatch of user expectations and current password management software. Understanding such mental models might help improving password managers and boost adoption rates. To get a better understanding, we conducted semi-structured interviews (N=14) with drawing tasks about password managers and pass- word coping strategies in general. Our qualitative analyses through affinity diagrams reveal that users' individual coping strategies are a key need that may not be fully addressed by current solutions. Our findings show that adaptation and personalization are a way forward to increase adoption.