Trade‐off Analytics: Creating and Evaluating the Tradespace

The INCOSE Corporate Advisory Board documented the need for a guidebook on best practices for trade studies. They wanted a book that covered the system lifecycle and aligned with INCOSE process guidance (ISO/IEC 15288, Systems Engineering Handbook , and the “Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge”). The INCOSE Decision Analysis Working Group supported the book project. Members of the Decision Analysis Working Group began by writing the decision management sections of the Systems Engineering Handbook and the “Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge” (SEBoK). We decided to develop a textbook in the Wiley Systems Engineering and Management Series to meet this need ( note: the authors provide all proceeds from sale of the textbook directly to the INCOSE Foundation ). Our goal was to describe and illustrate sound trade‐off analysis techniques to identify value and risk to help decision makers make the necessary trade‐offs to provide affordable systems that meet performance and schedule objectives. We recruited sixteen leading systems engineering experts with significant academic and industry experience. The textbook audience is undergraduate students (systems engineering, industrial, engineering management, other engineering); graduate students (systems, industrial, engineering management, other engineering); and professional systems engineers, project managers, and engineering managers. The textbook can also be used as a professional reference. Wiley offers a 25% discount to INCOSE Corporate Advisory Board members.