QFD: an interactive algorithm for the prioritization of product’s technical design characteristics

The paper is concerned with the problem of the “prioritization” of technical design characteristics of a product. An interactive algorithm has been developed with the aim to better support the engineering design process by means of quality function deployment (QFD). The algorithm tries to soften customer approach to QFD in those situations in which customers are not able to give a “significant” evaluation of the relative importance of their requirements. The method allows determining a ranking order of design characteristics without the artificial conversion of symbols contained in the relationship matrix, and without the use of explicit information concerning the relative degree of importance of customer requirements. A simple numerical application is also provided.