Collaborative Research: Theory-Grounded Guidelines for Solver-Aware System Architecting (SASA)

该项目的目标是促进对工程中系统架构新范例的科学理解，即求解器感知系统架构（SASA）。SASA在系统设计过程的制定阶段积极考虑来自组织边界之外的人才和专业知识的能力（例如，零工，人群）。本研究假设共同考虑系统架构、多种外部求解器和契约机制可以显著改善系统设计结果。该研究将为何时以及如何将新的努力来源纳入复杂系统设计提供新的理论和最佳实践，这对劳动力管理具有积极意义。通过明确地关注将其转化为实践，由这项工作产生的指导有可能对系统架构的实践方式产生切实的影响，以及组织与外部和非传统解决方案的接触方式，这在技术业务操作中承诺了更大的有效性和效率。理论创新将以SASA原则与设计成果相关的可操作指导方针的形式减少到实践中。该项目的其他可交付成果包括一套教育工具，用于向学生和行业从业者传授SASA。如果成功，该研究将为从传统方法到系统架构的范式转变提供科学基础，系统架构假设传统参与者受到组织边界的限制，为复杂系统设计提供更开放的创新方法。该研究将建立一个坚实的科学基础，包括：(1)构建复杂系统的社会技术理论；（ii）系统设计开放式创新过程的计算模型和SASA合同机制设计的计算方法；（iii）经验验证的设计指南，以支持SASA的从业者。该研究将通过揭示创新过程、设计师知识、系统架构和合同结构之间的联系，扩展系统工程研究和实践的知识前沿。由此产生的教育工具将对学生学习系统架构有直接的影响。这些工具将在pi所在的机构进行测试，然后免费提供给工程设计和系统工程（EDSE）社区的其他成员。重视利用非传统贡献者，有助于实现更广泛的社会目标，包括多样性和包容性，通过新的获取途径扩大STEM的参与，以及消除传统专业实践的障碍。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The objective of this project is to advance the scientific understanding of a new paradigm of system architecting in engineering, referred to as Solver-Aware System Architecting (SASA). SASA actively considers the capacity of talent and expertise from outside organizational boundaries (e.g., gig workers, crowd) during the formulation phases of the system design process. This research hypothesizes that the joint consideration of system architecture, diverse external solvers, and contract mechanisms, can significantly improve system design outcomes. The research will result in new theory and best practices for when and how to incorporate novel sources of effort into complex systems design, which has positive implications for workforce management. With an explicit focus on translation to practice, the guidance generated by this work has the potential to make a tangible impact on how system architecting is practiced, and the way organizations engage with outside and non-traditional solvers, which promises greater effectiveness and efficiency in technical business operations. The theoretical innovations will be reduced to practice in the form of actionable guidelines relating SASA principles to design outcomes. Additional deliverables of this project include a set of educational tools to educate students and industry practitioners on SASA.If successful, the research will result in scientific foundations for the paradigm shift from traditional approaches to system architecting, which assume traditional players bounded by organizational boundaries, to more open innovation approaches for complex systems design. The research will establish a firm scientific foundation consisting of (i) socio-technical theory for architecting complex systems; (ii) computational models of open innovation processes for systems design and computational methods for designing contractual mechanisms for SASA; and (iii) empirically-validated design guidelines to support practitioners of SASA. The research will extend the frontier of knowledge in systems engineering research and practice by shedding light on the linkages among innovation processes, designer knowledge, systems architecture and contractual structures. The resulting educational tools will have a direct impact on student learning about system architecting. The tools will be tested at the PIs’ institutions and then made freely available to other members of the Engineering Design and Systems Engineering (EDSE) community. The focus on leveraging non-traditional contributors has implications for broader societal goals around diversity and inclusion, broadening participation in STEM through new avenues for access, and eliminating barriers to traditional professional practice.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.