Interactions View
This view is the black-box model of the system and the focus is on the entities interacting with the
system through inputs and outputs. This view allows us to have a thorough understanding of the
system’s boundary, which differentiates what needs to be designed by us and what is not part of our
solution. As an example, defining the boundary for the remote would decide whether the power supply
is part of our solution or not. The interactions view is based on identifying the actors, the inputs and
outputs, and interactions.
Actor
Any physical entity that interacts with the system
Described by nouns.
Generally, provide and/or accept energy, materials, or information from the system
Stakeholders can be actors, but actors can be objects or phenomenon as well.
Actors can be listed as indicated in the example table below.
Table 1: Example of actors for a universal remote. (Source: [1])
Actor Definition
User The person using the remote
Wall Outlet The outlet that is used to recharge the battery
Assembly Worker Personnel who assembles the remote
Unintended Actors Objects and entities that are not intended to interact with the remote, but could have
significant impacts on the remote. Examples include hard surfaces, the environment,
babies, animals, other electronic equipment, etc.
Inputs and Outputs
The I/Os describe what is being transferred between the actors and the system.
Described by nouns
Common I/Os include: signals, power, energy, force, information, mass, light, heat voltage, and
current.
Remember that an I/O is a signal and will always be between two actors or an actor and a
system
Table 2: Example I/Os for the remote. (Source: [1])
I/O Definition
User Requests User commands that are supplied to the remote. These could be in the form of touch,
pushing buttons, voice commands, hand motions, etc.
Electric Power IN Electrical power from the wall outlet that is used to recharge the power source
Unintended Inputs Any mass, force, environmental change that is unintended as an input to the system.
Examples include impact forces from dropping the remote onto a hard surface, saliva
from babies and other animals, and spilling drinks onto the remote.
Figure 1: Black-box model of system (Source: [1])
Interactions
Interactions are descriptions of the exchange of material, information, or energy between the
actors and system
While I/O describe what is being exchanged and the actors describe who is exchanging it, the
interactions describe how is it being done
Stated as verbs followed by nouns.
At this stage, internal details of the system aren’t available and so all interactions are between
actors and system, or between different actors.
Interactions Model
The interactions model can be described by stating all interactions in the form of a table. A sample
interactions model for the remote is provided below.
Table 3: Interactions for remote. (Source: [1])
Interactions Description Actors System I/Os Features
Change The user adjusts all possible device User User Requests Controllable
Settings settings such as volume, channel, and Consumer Com Signal Versatile
guide navigation and the remote responds Electronic Usable
with the system state of the devices and Device Voice
the remote Activated
Recharge the The user connects the remote to the User Plug Forces Rechargeable
battery power grid and the remote signifies the Wall Outlet Electrical Power IN
user when the power supply is fully Power Grid System State Info
charged.
The following rubric can be used to evaluate your interactions model.
Table 4: Rubrics to assess the interactions model (Adapted from: [1])
Objective Goals Checkmark
Every actor and I/O is named as a noun
Relevant stakeholders are included as actors
Every interaction is named as a verb followed by noun
Every actor and every I/O is included in at least one interaction
Every interaction includes one or more actors and I/Os
The primary intended purpose of the system is represented as an interaction
Every feature is addressed by at least one interaction
Qualitative Goals
The interactions are sufficient to fully cover the feature set
References
1. Simoni, Mario, et al. "Helping Undergraduate Students of any Engineering Discipline Develop a
Systems Perspective." INCOSE International Symposium. Vol. 26. No. 1. 2016.
2. Schindel, William D., et al. "All innovation is innovation of systems: An integrated 3-D model of
innovation competencies." 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. 2011.
