5.3.1 Adaptive Design Using System Representations

Air Force weapon system development is a complex enterprise in which the stakeholders have differing and time-varying needs and constraints. An uncertain environment of shifting budgets, evolving threats and rapid technology advances contributes to complexity. This paper explores how complexity can be addressed through collaborative efforts to enhance program adaptability. Case studies provide data on patterns of interaction during system design between the Air Force acquisition agency, operational users, and the development contractor. The studies focus on a form of boundary object referred to as a “system representation” that facilitates knowledge sharing across organizational boundaries, enhancing adaptability and enabling ongoing verification and validation of the emerging design. As programs used system representations to provide higher levels of knowledge sharing, they were found to be more adaptable. System representations were more effective at promoting adaptability when they portrayed the design with higher fidelity, providing system-level detail and covering stakeholder emphasis areas.