Cryptocurrencies have acquired a reputation for being difficult to access and use, despite technological advancements. But what exactly are the aspects that make them difficult to use? How do users manage their cryptocurrencies in practice? What challenges do they face in doing so? And how can human-machine interaction help overcome these challenges? Our work focuses on different aspect:

Understanding user behavior: we explore common practices and challenges users face when using cryptocurrencies. Many challenges do not originate from technical aspects of blockchain technology but can be addressed by improving interaction. 

Improving the usability of applications: We build and evaluate novel user interfaces for cryptocurrencies. Following a user-centered design approach, our work addresses common tasks, such as  onboarding for novice users, key management and transactions. We also look at how rapid interface prototyping systems can accelerate the development of novel user interfaces.

Publications

Ausgewählte Publikationen

froehlich2022nordichi.jpg Michael Froehlich, Jose Adrian Vega Vermehren, Florian Alt und Albrecht Schmidt. Implementation and Evaluation of a Point-Of-Sale Payment System Using Bitcoin Lightning. In Proceedings of the 12th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction:. NordiCHI '22. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA. [Download Bibtex]  
froehlich2022nordichiadj.jpg Michael Froehlich, Jose Adrian Vega Vermehren, Florian Alt und Albrecht Schmidt. Supporting Interface Experimentation for Blockchain Applications. In Proceedings of the 12th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction:. NordiCHI '22. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA. [Download Bibtex]  
froehlich2022dis.jpg Michael Froehlich, Franz Waltenberger, Ludwig Trotter, Florian Alt und Albrecht Schmidt. Blockchain and Cryptocurrency in Human Computer Interaction: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda. In Designing Interactive Systems Conference. DIS '22. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA. [Download Bibtex]  
froehlich2022icl.jpg Michael Froehlich, Jose Vega, Amelie Pahl, Sergej Lotz, Florian Alt, Albrecht Schmidt und Isabell Welpe. Prototyping With Blockchain: A Case Study For Teaching Blockchain Application Development at University. In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning and 51st International Conference on Engineering Pedagogy. ICL '22. [Download Bibtex]  
froehlich2021icbta.jpg Michael Froehlich, Philipp Hulm und Florian Alt. Under Pressure - A User-Centered Threat Model for Cryptocurrency Owners. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Blockchain Technology and Applications. ICBTA '21. [Download Bibtex] [Video]  
froehlich2021dis1.jpg Michael Froehlich, Maurizio Wagenhaus, Albrecht Schmidt und Florian Alt. Don't Stop Me Now! Exploring Challenges Of First-Time Cryptocurrency Users. In Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. DIS '21. ACM, New York, NY, USA. [Download Bibtex]  
froehlich2021dis2.jpg Michael Froehlich, Charlotte Kobiella, Albrecht Schmidt und Florian Alt. Is It Better With Onboarding? Improving First-Time Cryptocurrency App Experiences. In Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. DIS '21. ACM, New York, NY, USA. [Download Bibtex]  
froehlich2020dis.jpg Michael Froehlich, Felix Gutjahr und Florian Alt. Don't lose your coin! Investigating security practices of cryptocurrency users. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. DIS '20. ACM, New York, NY, USA. [Download Bibtex]