Axiomatic design

Axiomatic design is a systems design methodology that uses matrix methods to trace how customer needs turn into functional requirements, design parameters and process variables. Its central device is a design matrix that relates a set of functional requirements to a set of design parameters, so a designer can see which parameters drive which requirements. The method takes its name from two design axioms, given without proof, that guide analysis and decision making. The Independence Axiom says to keep the functional requirements independent of one another, and the Information Axiom says to minimize the information content of the design. Where changing one design parameter noticeably affects two separate requirements, the requirements are said to be coupled, and matrix analysis of the design matrix is used to assess and reduce that coupling. The Information Axiom supplies a measure of the probability that a design parameter will deliver the performance a requirement needs, so lower-risk systems are preferred. The methodology has been developed since the 1990s by Nam Pyo Suh at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in its Department of Mechanical Engineering, and has been presented at a series of academic conferences.