Category: Terms of Art

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All models are wrong, some models are useful. George E. P. Box “Observe, Orient, Decide, Act” (OODA) is a simple decision-making model developed by US Air Force Colonel John Boyd. The concept is straightforward: Every entity in a competition is executing these four phases, the side that can execute them more quickly and accurately will win. “OODA” is a useful shorthand for discussing human decision-making and is commonly used in military circles. Of course, this simple phrase masks an enormous amount of complexity regarding the amount of information observed, the participant’s ability to orient, the quality of decision-making, and the …

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The phrase “military-industrial complex” was coined by President Eisenhower in his farewell address to the nation in 1961. The United States has the most powerful military in the world, a fact that is extremely valuable to our nation and allies. Yet the influence of the military-industrial complex on our nation’s priorities and policymaking cannot be ignored.

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The term ergonomics was coined by Wojciech Jastrzębowski in 1857 to mean “the science of work” with the goal of improving productivity and profit. He described the importance of physical, emotional, entertainment, and rational aspects of the labor and employee experience, but the context was squarely on factory-type production. Over time, this has evolved into two, slightly different definitions.

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UX is very much a type of human factors. UX extends the scope of consideration beyond the product itself to any interface which might affect the user’s perceptions and feelings of the product. Yet, the goal is the same: understand the human’s needs in order to design interfaces that meet them.

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When proofing a document with the word “materiel”, you will look like an idiot if you replace every instance with “material”. Find out exactly what it means and how it affects systems engineering practice.

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