• Evaluate how system architecture design impacts usability for both novice and experienced users

• Identify key design variables—e.g., node placement, line intersections, labeling—that influence clarity and performance

• Develop and validate usability heuristics to guide systems engineering practice

• Timed Performance Assessment – Participants locate information within two versions of an autonomous vehicle architecture (patented vs redesigned)

• A/B Testing – Participants compare usability and clarity between two aircraft avionics system architectures

• System architecture diagrams (original and redesigned)

• Post-task surveys (quantitative and qualitative)

• UML and SysML modeling standards for consistency

• Participants struggled more with crowded diagrams, diagonal lines, and unclear abbreviations

• Users preferred grouped elements, consistent line types, and top-down information flow