User requirements for security and counterterrorism initiatives

The involvement of end-users and stakeholders in the development of a product or process is considered essential as their reactions, interactions, use and acceptance dictate the effectiveness, success and the overall performance of any implementation. End-user and stakeholder involvement has been adopted as part of user-centered design methodology in many fields such as healthcare, health and safety, product design and human-computer interaction. This paper describes the application of user requirements gathering methods from existing human factors techniques and discusses the specific issues and challenges of requirements generation in the sensitive domain of security and counter-terrorism. The knowledge was gained during the development of design specifications for a suite of interventions for two distinct end-user groups: front-line security personnel and top-level security agencies. A case study is presented of the user requirements elicitation conducted at a major entertainment venue. Furthermore, key emergent themes were identified and are reported.