Identifying and Prioritizing Evaluation Criteria for User-Centric Digital Identity Management Systems

Abstract

Identity Management systems are used for securing digital identity of users in reliable, automated and compatible way. Service providers employ identity management systems which are cost effective and scalable but cause poor usability for users. Identity management systems are user-centric applications which should be designed by considering users’ perspective. User centricity is a remarkable concept in identity management systems as it provides more powerful user control and privacy. This approach has been evolved from amending past paradigms. Thus, evaluation of digital identity management systems based on users’ point of view, is really important. The main objective of this paper is to identify the appropriateness of the criteria used in evaluation of user-centric digital identity management systems. These criteria are gathered from the literature and then categorized into four groups for the first time in this work to examine the importance of each parameter. In this approach, several interviews were performed as a qualitative research method and two questionnaires have been filled out by forty six users who were involved with identity management systems. Since the answers are perception based data the most important criteria in each category are assessed by using fuzzy method. This research found that the most important criteria are related to security category. The results of this research can provide valuable information for managers and decision makers of hosting companies as well as system designers to adapt and develop appropriate user-centric digital identity management systems.