Behaviors: Architecting Behavior‑Aware Software Systems

About the Workshop

The Behaviors Workshop at ICSA 2026 unites HILA 2025 (Human-in-the-Loop Architectures) and SARECS 2025 (Adaptive and Embedded Systems) into one forum on the interplay between human and system behaviors in software architecture. Modern connected systems are increasingly behavior-centric, integrating human and dynamic system behaviors. Grounded in the Internet of Behaviors (IoB) paradigm, the workshop emphasizes architectures that link digital functionality to behavioral data for human-driven design, real-time adaptation, and behavior-resilient systems.

It explores human-in-the-loop architectures, where feedback, emotions, and interaction patterns influence system behavior in domains such as healthcare, smart cities, and IoT. It also focuses on self-adaptive, runtime-reconfigurable, and machine-learning-driven architectures, highlighting socio-technical feedback loops and co-adaptive systems where human and system behaviors shape one another. The goal is to advance behavior-driven architectures by integrating human and system perspectives and leveraging AI, machine learning, and digital twins. The workshop invites contributions on socio-technical interdependencies, interdisciplinary approaches, and real-world applications in smart healthcare, autonomous systems, and IoT/CPS ecosystems.

Topics

Human‑Centered Behaviors

• Human‑in‑the‑loop (HITL) software architectures.
• Architectures for human‑centric applications such as Internet of Behaviors, healthcare, smart cities and adaptive UIs.
• Emotion‑ and behavior‑aware systems and user experience‑driven architectures.
• Modeling, analysis and prediction of human behavior in architecture.
• Architecting for privacy, ethics and trust in behavior data.
• AI‑supported sensing and adaptation to human needs.

System Behaviors

• Self‑adaptive and autonomic systems.
• Dynamic reconfiguration and runtime customization of embedded/ distributed systems.
• Architectural patterns for adaptivity, modularity and scalability.
• Resource‑aware adaptation under performance, safety or power constraints.
• Real‑time guarantees and quality‑driven adaptivity.
• Machine learning and AI integration for system adaptation.
• Edge‑cloud continuum and digital twins for system behavior modeling.

Interactions Between Human and System Behaviors

• Co‑adaptive architectures.
• Behavioral feedback loops.
• Architectures for behavior‑aware cyber‑physical and IoT ecosystems.
• Integrating behavioral models into system monitoring, verification and assurance.
• Human–AI collaboration in adaptive architectures.
• Case studies on mutual influence of human and system behavior in real‑world applications.

Target Audience

The workshop targets software architects and researchers interested in behavior‑aware computing. This includes professionals in software engineering, human‑computer interaction, artificial intelligence and machine learning, internet of things/cyber‑physical systems, distributed and embedded systems, and behavioral sciences who are exploring how behaviors impact architecture. The interdisciplinary scope encourages collaboration at the intersection of technical and human‑centric perspectives.

Submission & Evaluation

We will issue a call for papers inviting original research and experience reports. Submitted papers will undergo peer review to assess relevance, novelty and technical quality. Both full papers (up to 8 pages in IEEE CS format) and short position papers are solicited. Accepted papers will appear in the ICSA 2026 Companion proceedings (IEEE Xplore) and must follow the IEEE CS proceedings format.

Each submission will be reviewed by three experienced reviewers who regularly serve on program committees in software architecture, HCI, AI and distributed systems. At least one author of each accepted paper must register and present at the workshop. A Best Paper Award will be presented to acknowledge outstanding contributions.

Contact

For more information or to get involved with the Behaviors workshop, please reach out to the organizers:

• Mina Alipour — mial@mmmi.sdu.dk
• Mahyar Tourchi Moghaddam — mtmo@mmmi.sdu.dk
• Serkan Ayvaz — seay@mmmi.sdu.dk