Human interaction with policy flight simulators

•One of few human factors descriptions of modeling policy setting.•Contribution to understanding of truly complex systems.•Explanation of policy (flight) simulators.

Policy flight simulators are designed for the purpose of exploring alternative management policies at levels ranging from individual organizations to national strategy. This article focuses on how such simulators are developed and on the nature of how people interact with these simulators. These interactions almost always involve groups of people rather than individuals, often with different stakeholders in conflict about priorities and courses of action. The ways in which these interactions are framed and conducted are discussed, as well as the nature of typical results.