Introducing systems-oriented design for complex societal contexts in design engineering education

Faced with large-scale wicked problems that include global warming, resource depletion, poverty and humanitarian emergencies, society needs new and more appropriate reasoning models. In particular, these problems pose unfamiliar challenges in contexts with poor financial and infrastructural resources. Systems-oriented design (SOD) is widely...

Modeling for transition management

A framework for the modeling and simulation of transitions is presented. A transition, “substantial change in the state of a socio-technical system”, typically unfolds over a long timespan. We therefore suggest to use simulation to inform transition managers on the effect of their decisions. Transition models preferably meet five functional...

Added value of stakeholders' in designing for informal caregivers

Informal caregivers, who are usually family members or friends of care recipients, provide unpaid assistances to help care recipients remain in their homes. However, they may be prone to depression, grief, fatigue and changes in social relationships. This paper presents the development process of a Product Service System (PSS) which is able to...

Addressing stakeholder conflicts in rural South Africa using a water supply model

A system dynamics modelling approach is adopted to deepen understanding of the effects of operational management on the performance of the Greater Kirkwood water supply system in South Africa. Currently, the interrupted operation of the system has led to perceptions of systemic social injustice on the part of citizens and contention between the...

Structuring Socio-technical Complexity: Modelling Agent Systems using Institutional Analysis

Socio-technical systems consist of many heterogeneous decision making entities and technological artefacts. These systems are governed through public policy that unravels in a multi-scale institutional context, which ranges from norms and values to technical standards. Simulation, agent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) in particular, is an...

Decision Support for Collaborative Airport Strategic Planning

An airport’s operation and development impacts many stakeholders. Therefore, an airport should be treated as a socio-technical system. An airport operator and its stakeholders should strategically plan and develop the airport together. This dissertation describes the development of the HARMOS Decision Support System that can facilitate such...

Images of cooperation: A methodological exploration in energy networks

To ensure dependable, affordable, and sustainable use of energy, stakeholders in energy production, distribution, and consumption are increasingly seeking for cooperation. They aim to jointly tackle large energy projects in an environmental context that is changing at an increasing rate, towards increasing complexity. Cooperation is seen as a...

New to Improve: The Mutual Influence between New Products and Societal Change Processes

The focus of design is changing rapidly, as new products are increasingly connected to each other and to the rest of the world. This means that the focus of the designer is less and less on the creation of tangible artifacts, and increasingly on the development of complex interconnected systems. These systems should preferably not only be “new...