System Architecture Principle 5: Systems exhibit emergent behavior

Tagline: Systems exhibit emergent behavior.

Descriptive version: As the elements of a system are brought together and interact, processes (function) and other intrinsic properties will emerge.

Prescriptive version: An architect must pay as much if not more attention to the functions and the combination of functions as compared to the items of form.  It is the proper combination of these internal functions that will result in the external delivered functions that provide value to the beneficiaries.  These emergent functions will not simply be the some of the sub-functions.

Discussion: During (Crawley2010), it was stated ``Form by itself delivers no value''.  With this I somewhat agree and somewhat disagree.  It has been exhibited, by options like the iPhone, that some users will perceive higher benefit to a system when the system has an appealing `industrial design'.  This could be an argument for form providing value.  On the other hand, one could argue that the function of the device, the iPhone in this example, provides the base value and form provides additional perceived value.  With this argument the statement of ``form by itself delivers no value'' might be restated best as ``form provides additional value assuming that functional needs are satisfied''. 




Citation
E. Crawley. Esd.34 lecture 1, September 2010.