The Behavioral Science of Software Engineering and Human–Machine Teaming

Abstract

Designing and sustaining sociotechnical systems where relationships among humans, machines, and environmental aspects are intertwined is not new to software engineering. Emery and Trist1 coined the term sociotechnical systems in 1960 to draw attention to the need for people, machines, and context to all be considered when developing and sustaining these systems. Interactions and dependencies in sociotechnical systems get complex quickly as the interdisciplinary nature of such systems drive different design priorities and information flow mechanisms: sociologists see social systems, psychologists observe them as cognitive systems, computer scientists approach them as information systems, and engineers see the hardware systems.2 All of these perspectives are not only valid but also are essential elements of sociotechnical systems.