Field Testing of a Nested SSM‐UML Methodology: Socio‐Technical System Design in a Personalised Healthcare Ecosystem

Complex socio‐technical systems require methodological approaches that bridge ‘soft’ stakeholder perspectives with ‘hard’ technical specifications. This study field tests a novel nested methodology that integrates Unified Modelling Language (UML) prototyping within the soft systems methodology (SSM) approach to systems thinking through systematic stakeholder engagement. Using personalised healthcare (PHC) ecosystem design as the use‐case, we adopted a participatory, role‐playing approach with iterative design refinement interviews (DRIs) involving 18 international stakeholders and design validation workshops (DVW) involving 25 domain experts across six countries. Systematic thematic analysis of 55 stakeholder comments revealed four key methodological advantages: enhanced stakeholder comprehension of complex systems, improved consensus building through visual modelling, reduced design iteration cycles and strengthened validation rigour. The nested approach demonstrated superior stakeholder engagement compared with traditional single‐methodology applications, with participants reporting 73% improved understanding of system complexity and 81% satisfaction with the collaborative design process. This research contributes to systems methodology by (1) providing field validation of hybrid SSM‐UML approaches, (2) advancing stakeholder engagement techniques in systems development and (3) establishing transferable design principles for complex socio‐technical system development. The nested methodology offers significant potential for addressing ‘wicked problems’ requiring integration of multiple stakeholder perspectives with more precise technical specifications.