Human–Systems Dialectics and Exploration

Starting with an introduction to Human-Systems Dialectics, this chapter will focus on the early stage of Human–Systems Integration, briefly introduce the history of dialectics, system exploration, and agile system development, and sketch the system theory behind human systems dialectics and exploration. System models in the form of mental models of users, designers, engineers, and other stakeholders, increasingly teamed with machine-based models of socio-technical systems, are at the core of system ideation and exploration. These models might start with vague ideas or problem statements, and are being expanded, iterated, and increasingly instantiated until a new socio-technical system can be implemented or an existing one changed. Another fundamental concept for system dialectics and exploration, which originated in design thinking, is that of design space, use space, and value space, which span a vast space of alternative potential socio-technical systems. The chapter will sketch the state of the art of strategies, paradigms, and methods for ideating new socio-technical systems, and how to explore the vast sea of possibilities with the other stakeholders, solving the Collingridge Dilemma with a balanced interplay of constructive and critical approaches. As a handbook chapter, the chapter will balance the theory of human systems dialectics and exploration with the practical application and easy-to-understand examples from agile product development.