Linear Complexity Yields Compounding Exponential Contingencies: Analysis Using the Design Performance Matrix

In the pursuit of an optimum design, prototypes fail and must be redesigned in order to progress. In complex projects an uninformed designer must expend countless resources to improve upon the design. We organize information pertinent to a complex design project into a matrix and examine its applications both in the design process and describing how domain expertise can help to navigate this ever-increasing complexity of design. Some scenarios require only moderate tweaking to solve an issue, but some require a complete reworking of the designer's mindset concerning the project. Ever increasing complexity of the project at hand makes progression difficult, and potentially impossible without a creative designer with considerable domain expertise.