Prof Elma van der Lingen, Chair GSTM, would like to congratulate Henk van den Heever and Dr Rudolph Oosthuizen for receiving the Best Paper Award  at the 15th Annual INCOSE, SA Conference.

Title: Application of Cognitive Work Analysis in early Phases of a Complex System Development Project

Abstract: Systems engineering (SE) is applied to bring about complex systems, such as sociotechnical systems (STS), based on stakeholder requirements. The introduction of new technology into an existing STS may result in unexpected emergent behaviour when prevailing processes, procedures and information flows are challenged. Due to the complexity associated with emergence, the resultant system may fail to achieve the desired utility fully, or the work system produced may not be desirable. Cognitive work analysis (CWA) provides a framework for analysing, modelling, and designing STS. This study proposes applying CWA modelling to requirement analysis for new technology introduction as part of a validation workflow in aid of SE. Work domain analysis (WDA), the first step in the CWA framework, is applied to a test case and the resultant abstraction hierarchy (AH) models analysed to evaluate the perceived utility. This article shows how analysts were able to apply the method and uncover possible design emergence. We hope that the methods presented herein will aid more designers in the application of CWA as part of the SE life-cycle toward the successful implementation of complex STS.

Full article