Abstract

As modern engineered systems become ever more connected and interdependent there is an increasing need to evaluate their complexity. However, evaluating system complexity is challenging due to the complicated conceptual landscape of competing definitions of the term complexity itself, and the range of perspectives that can be taken on what constitutes the System of Interest. This paper attempts to overcome these hurdles through introducing a Complexity Register with which to build and record a shared understanding of system complexity for key stakeholders. In order to overcome current challenges in evaluating the complexity of an engineering system, the Complexity Register encourages personnel to adopt a broad range of perspectives on the potential issues, impacts, and mitigations to manage system complexity. The formulation of the Complexity Register is informed by design principles derived from a case study analysis of a system complexity evaluation tool. The Complexity Register should enable more effective shared understanding by encouraging collaboration that makes explicit the multiple viewpoints taken when evaluating system complexity and promoting continued reevaluation throughout a system or project lifecycle.

摘要

随着现代工程系统变得越来越相互联系和相互依赖，越来越需要评估它们的复杂性. 然而，评估系统复杂性具有挑战性，因为术语复杂性本身的竞争定义具有复杂的概念环境，以及可以对什么构成感兴趣系统采取的各种观点。本文试图通过引入一个复杂性寄存器来克服这些障碍，用它来建立和记录关键利益相关者对系统复杂性的共同理解。为了克服当前在评估工程系统复杂性方面面临的挑战，复杂性登记表鼓励人员对潜在问题、影响和缓解措施采取广泛的观点来管理系统复杂性。复杂性登记表的制定是根据系统复杂性评估工具的案例研究分析得出的设计原则制定的。