Abstract
This paper explores the complementary nature of multiple approaches for designing and
using complex artifacts when users’ functional requirements are highly demanding, and environmental
constraints that their designers confront are stringent. Such approaches include axiomatic design,
architecture theory, quality function deployment (QFD), quality engineering (QE), total quality management
(TQM), technology and operations management (TOM), industrial engineering (IE), digital
engineering, and automation. The paper argues that practitioners should use these approaches in
more systematic ways, and researchers in each approach need to share each other’s knowledge for
achieving the same goal – coping with complex artifacts.
