Socio-technical systems: From design methods to systems engineering

The importance of adopting a socio-technical approach to system development is recognised by many but not widely practised. We analyse the reasons for this, considering the history of socio-technical design methods, and critiquing some of the better known socio-technical design methods to highlight problems. Based on this analysis we propose a new pragmatic framework for socio-technical systems engineering (STSE) which builds on the (largely independent) research of groups investigating work design, information systems, computer-supported cooperative work, and cognitive systems engineering. STSE bridges the traditional gap between organisational change and system development using two main types of activity: sensitisation and awareness; and constructive engagement. From the framework we identify an initial set of interdisciplinary research problems that address the engineering problem of applying socio-technical approaches in a cost-effective way, and facilitate the integration of STS...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: IWC
• Authors: Gordon D. Baxter, Ian Sommerville
• Keywords: IWC 2011, Socio-technical Approach, Socio-technical Approaches, Socio-technical Design Methods