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Part I. OverviewUser Outreach refers to the structures within IOOS governance that will recognize and address theneeds of end users on an on-going basis. The goals of User Outreach are to: (1) identify the needsof users, (2) influence IOOS to meet those needs, (3) assess how well those needs are being met,and (4) report the results of 1 and 3 to all parts of IOOS. User Outreach also seeks to establish andenhance the societal relevance of IOOS through informing the concerned public about existingproducts and services.There are at least three classes of users: (1) the end users mentioned above, (2) users who process(assimilate, analyze…) data and provide information in the form of forecasts, ocean state estimationsand hindcasts, and (3) users who provide specialized software and other services. Geographicand institutional structures add further complexity to identifying the needs of the various usergroups. The needs of users are generally structured according to the seven phenomena of interestto IOOS: marine operations, natural hazards, national defense, public health, climate change,healthy ecosystems, and sustainable marine resources. For an in-depth description of user needsfrom the viewpoint of a national panel of experts, please see Appendix 4 (the complete User OutreachTeam Report).User needs are translated into software requirements and then into software product designthrough the spiral design cycle described below in the System Engineering Approach. On-goinginput from users will be solicited at each stage of the design cycle. This input will shape the standards-generatingand system implementation tasks that are outlined in Part II of the Plan.SYSTEM ENGINEERING APPROACH(see Appendices 5 and 6 for more detailed discussions)This document describes a wide variety of requirements addressing the needs of a diverse groupof stakeholders. Because of the resulting complexity, the success of the DMAC Subsystem requiresa formalized system engineering process. A brief description of three system engineering processmodels is presented in Part III (Appendix 5), as well as recommendations for the approach thatshould be used for the DMAC development and integration.Based on a review of the subsystem requirements and a comparison of the features of several commonmodels, it is recommended that the Spiral Model for systems engineering be selected forDMAC implementation. The Spiral Model accommodates a “task-oriented,” highly structured approach,while allowing rapid prototyping and risk-analysis to be performed at juncture points ofthe project. In the Spiral Model, selected requirements are chosen for development to an operationallevel. Then, more requirements are added, and the development process is repeated through39