Axiomatic design is a systems design methodology using matrix methods to systematically analyze

the transformation of customer needs into functional requirements, design parameters, and process
variables.[1] Specifically, functional requirements (FRs) are related to design parameters (DPs):
The method gets its name from its use of design principles or design Axioms (i.e., given without
proof) governing the analysis and decision making process in developing high quality product or
system designs. The two axioms used in Axiomatic Design (AD) are:

Axiom 1: The Independence Axiom. Maintain the independence of the functional

requirements (FRs).

Axiom 2: The Information Axiom. Minimize the information content of the design.
Axiomatic design is considered to be a design method that addresses fundamental issues
in Taguchi methods.

Axiomatic Design
Axiomatic design streamlines the design process of software, hardware, materials, and all processes, products, and
systems to get the best results quickly.

A team designing with the DFSS methodology should create a product that is as robust as possible prior to
introduction, presumably at a Six Sigma performance level or whatever the "perfect" standard is for your design.

It is also important to be practical, not every option and product will be 100% ideal prior to introduction. It is important
to get the process or product out to market and add upgrades or revisions.

Take the Apple NANO or I-phone for example. Both were introduced and aggressively marketed without all the
current options. The features to satisfy the must-haves, needs (at the time) and delighter features (at the time) were
superior to other products in the eyes of many customers and the product sold at record levels. Then newer
introductions were sold, and the delighters became needs and must haves, and they continue to set the pace for MP3
and wireless phone appeal.

If Apple would have waited until all the features were implemented and installed that they knew of, the product may
never have made it to market or another company could have set the precedence. There are infinite ideas and
improvement opportunities, at some point the call is made to present as perfect of a product that satisfies the
current Kano Model and get it on the market.

Despite the features, a product should be designed to be robust, controllable, reliable, manufacturable, and most of
all what the customer expects and wants.

Poor planning, research, intuitively design based decisions, and trial-and-error based design practice may result in
missed budgets, project failure warranty costs, and unsatisfied customers.

Axiom
Axioms are truths that cannot be derived or proven, but for which there are no exceptions or contradicting examples.

Axiom 1: The Independence Axiom Maintain the independence of the functional requirements.

Axiom 2: The Information Axiom Minimize the information content of the design.

There are four domains of axiomatic design:

1) Customer Domain
2) Functional Domain
3) Physical Domain
4) Process Domain

Specifically, functional requirements (FRs) are related to design parameters (DPs): ... The
method gets its name from its use of design principles or design Axioms(i.e., given without
proof) governing the analysis and decision making process in developing high quality product or
system designs.

Designs which do not satisfy the Independence Axiom are called coupled. An
everyday example is a typical water faucet. The two FRs are "control the temperature" and
"control the flow rate." The two DPs are the hot- and cold-water handles.

Application of Axiomatic Design

The ultimate goal of the Axiomatic Design is to establish a science base for design and to improve
design activities by providing the designer with 1) a theoretical foundation based on logical and
rational thought processes and 2) tools. [Suh, 1990] While there are many steps in the engineering
design process, the axiomatic design process focuses on the generation of requirements and the
selection of means for achievement. One of the central ideas of axiomatic design is the importance of
distinguishing between what (objectives) is to be achieved and how (means) it will be achieved. In
axiomatic design terminology, the objectives of the design are expressed as Functional Requirements
(FRs) and the solutions are expressed as Design Parameters (DPs). The design process is one of
selecting the best set of DPs to satisfy the determined FRs.

It was found that the strengths of axiomatic design, namely the emphasis on separating the objectives
(the FRs) from the means (DPs) and the structured decomposition process, made it particularly well
suited to achieve the proposed research objectives. The following paragraphs provide a brief
introduction into the axiomatic design methodology and explain the usage during the development of
the MSDD. For more detail on the axiomatic design methodology, the reader is directed to the work of
[Suh, 1990].

The Axioms

The functional requirements (FRs) represent the goals of the design or what we want to achieve. The
design parameters (DPs) express how we want to satisfy the functional requirements. The FRs and
DPs can mathematically be described as a vector. The relationship between the FRs and the DPs can
be stated as a matrix. This matrix is called the Design Matrix (DM). Design - as used in the axiomatic
design - is defined as the mapping process from the functional space to the physical space to satisfy
the designer-specified functional requirements.

Axiomatic design consists of two axioms:

1. The independence axiom: Maintain the independence of the functional requirements.

2. The information axiom: Minimize the information content of the design

The first axiom states that when multiple FRs exist, the design solution must be such that each FR can
be satisfied without affecting the other FRs. When this objective is achieved, the design matrix will be
diagonal, as each DP will affect only its associated FR with no coupling occurring in the off-diagonal
elements. Such a design is said to be uncoupled. In cases where independence is not achieved, two
possibilities arise. In one case, the design will be partially coupled, meaning that the rows and
columns of the design matrix can be interchanged such that the matrix is upper or lower triangular.
When off-diagonal elements exist and the matrix cannot be rearranged to a triangular state, the
design is said to be coupled. An acceptable design is either uncoupled or partially coupled. A partially
coupled design is said to be path dependent.

The information axiom states simply that simpler designs are better. Quantifying the complexity or
information content of system designs can be quite challenging, however. The information axiom was
not used in creating the MSDD and thus will not be discussed further herein.

AD process

The axiomatic design methodology begins with the identification of customer needs and the conversion
of these needs into a set of one or more high-level functional requirements. The goal is to develop the
minimum set of independently achieved requirements that completely characterize the desired
functions of the design [Suh, 1990]. Suh describes achieving this result as a process of first mapping
from the customer domain to the functional domain to state (objectives) functional requirements
(FRs) in solution-neutral terms. Next, the designers must determine how the just-determined FRs will
be met by the (means) design parameters (DPs). Synthesis of design parameters is essentially a
creative process. At high levels, the DPs may be conceptual in nature and may describe a general
system or structure for achieving an FR without yet containing enough information to be implemented.
At lower levels of decomposition, DPs typically describe a physical solution in enough detail for a
concept to be implemented. Typically, decomposition proceeds until all FRs and DPs have been
decomposed to an operational level of detail.