Understanding Systems Engineering Decision-Making Through Game-Based Simulation: Insights from Industry

Abstract

Learning how Systems Engineers (SEs) make architectural design decisions in real-world settings is challenging due to the involvement of interdisciplinary stakeholders, shifting priorities, and multiple trade-offs often across extended project timelines. While interviews, observations, and participatory sessions provided valuable insights in our research, they fell short of capturing the nuanced decision-making patterns, challenges encountered, and strategies adopted by SEs. To address this gap, we developed “Decision Pathways” a board game designed to recreate realistic SE design conditions in a structured and observable environment. Decision Pathways is a team-based, one-hour game where participants take on the role of SEs tasked with designing a system architecture. Gameplay involves selecting a knowledge pathway, navigating stakeholder networks, identifying and purchasing knowledge cards within a limited budget, and adapting architectural designs in response to evolving constraints. All decisions are made under time pressure, and the game concludes with each team presenting a physical architecture canvas. The game is structured around the Octalysis framework to ensure player engagement through motivational drivers such as time scarcity, ownership, unpredictability, constraints, and collaborative challenge. Following iterative design refinement and a pilot with 10 cross-disciplinary PhD researchers, the game was implemented with 54 practicing Systems Engineers from high-tech industry. The sessions yielded rich data on decision-making patterns, organization-wide considerations, knowledge identification and use, and team dynamics including the challenges faced and strategies adopted. Participant feedback validated the game’s realism and identified its value beyond research as a training and reflection tool for both novice and experienced SEs. This paper details the conceptual foundations, design methodology, core mechanics, and empirical insights from "Decision Pathways." The research demonstrates how simulation-based board games can effectively support engineering research, professional development, and reflective practice while offering novel perspectives on complex decision environments. The implementation and results gives ideas for broader applications in systems thinking education and engineering design training.