and procedurally rational behavior. Among the limits to rationality are the fact that we can formulate, analyze, and interpret only a restricted amount of information; can devote only a limited amount of time to decision-making; and can become involved in many more activities than we can effectively consider and cope with simultaneously. We must therefore necessarily focus attention only on a portion of the major competing concerns. The direct effect of these is the presence of cognitive bias in information acquisition and processing and the use of cognitive heuristics for evaluation of alternatives. Although in many cases these cognitive heuristics. | 784 ANALYSIS DESIGN AND INFORMATION PROCESSING and procedurally rational behavior. Among the limits to rationality are the fact that we can formulate analyze and interpret only a restricted amount of information can devote only a limited amount of time to decision-making and can become involved in many more activities than we can effectively consider and cope with simultaneously. We must therefore necessarily focus attention only on a portion of the major competing concerns. The direct effect of these is the presence of cognitive bias in information acquisition and processing and the use of cognitive heuristics for evaluation of alternatives. Although in many cases these cognitive heuristics will be flawed this is not necessarily so. One of the hoped-for results of the use of systems engineering approaches is the development of effective and efficient heuristics for enhanced judgment and choice through effective decision support There are many cognitive biases prevalent in most information-acquisition activities. The use of cognitive heuristics and decision rules is also prevalent and necessary to enable us to cope with the many demands on our time. One such heuristic is satisfying or searching for a solution that is good enough. This may be quite appropriate if the stakes are small. In general the quality of cognitive heuristics will be task-dependent and often the use of heuristics for evaluation will be both reasonable and appropriate. Rational decision-making requires time skill wisdom and other resources. It must therefore be reserved for the more important decisions. A goal of systems engineering is to enhance information acquisition processing and evaluation so that efficient and effective use of information is made in a process that is appropriate to the cognitive styles and time constraints of management. SYSTEM DESIGN This section discusses several topics relevant to the design and evaluation of systems. In order to develop our design .
