LoopX: Visualizing and understanding the origins of dynamic model behavior

Abstract: It is a fundamental precept of System Dynamics that structure leads to behavior. Clearly relating the two is one of the roadblocks in the widespread use of feedback models as it normally depends on substantial experimentation or the application of specialized analytic techniques that are not easily approachable by most model builders. LoopX is a tool that builds understanding of structure as it determines behavior by rendering and highlighting structure responsible for behavior as the behavior unfolds. The tool builds on the Loops that Matter (Schoenberg 2019) approach to analyzing loop dominance by presenting the outcome of applying that theory in an easy to use, interactive, web based piece of software. This is a significant step forward in the challenges of automatically visualizing model behavior and linking it to generative structures identified in Sterman (2000). LoopX can be used to machine generate high quality causal loop diagrams from model equations at different levels of detail based on the dynamic importance of links and variables as well as animate them based on their importance from a loop dominance perspective. Several examples are provided that demonstrate the comprehensiveness and ease of use of the tool, important attributes supporting its broad uptake.