A Usability Study of Five Two-Factor Authentication Methods
summary
A two-week, between-subjects study with 72 participants and a 30-person within-subjects setup study compares SMS, TOTP, push, pre-generated printed codes, and a Yubikey u2f device. Findings show U2F is fastest to authenticate (median 9 seconds) but scores lowest on SUS, passwords score 95 and TOTP 88, and TOTP/U2F each have two setup failures (QR-scanning mistakes and missed browser permission pop-ups). Thirty-five percent report not having their second factor immediately available; well-implemented 2FA generally proves usable.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Introduction to 2FA study
- 1:44Background and methodology
- 3:24Study design and recruitment
- 5:21Quantitative usability results
- 7:14Qualitative findings
- 9:33Study limitations and context
- 10:20Setup study analysis
- 12:44Setup hurdles and design
- 13:53Conclusion and takeaways
- 15:30Questions and answers
