By Eugene le Roux, mechanical engineer, one of his regular online articles on general project management principles.
While the system specification might spell out the required performance of the system, when creating the system, there are often conflicting requirements on the detailed levels.

Eugene le Roux, retired mechanical engineer. © RACA Journal
For instance, in the case of a combat vehicle, a low mass might be required, but at the same time the required protection could drive the mass up. How must we decide which aspect is to be prioritised?
Would it help if one could list all the requirements in functional terms, and then by means of the team’s inputs prioritise them, and assign values to indicate their relative importance?
So if one were to choose between increasing the reliability and the total cost of the vehicle, one would have some guideline.
Is it also your view that the list of functional values lie in levels, and must be complete, to prevent a certain aspect of the product from being unpresented?
Is it also your view that such a value system could go a long way to mitigate conflicting views in a project team?
Would you like to share how you found the application of such a value system in your environment?
Please participate in the discussions.