Use the Pugh Matrix form to evaluate and rank a list of possible solutions by using weighted criteria. You can use a Pugh Matrix to rate proposed product designs versus a baseline design, which can be the current design or a preferred new design, using a list of customer requirements as the criteria for comparison. You can also use a Pugh Matrix to rate proposed improvements versus a baseline improvement, which might be the improvement suggested by the team or by management, using organizational goals or customer needs as the criteria for comparison.
Answers the questions:
- Which product design proposal best matches customer requirements and other organizational goals?
- How do alternative product design proposals compare to the current (or preferred) design?
- Which improvement strategy best matches organizational goals?
- How do alternative improvement proposals compare to the suggested improvement?
| When to Use |
Purpose |
| Mid-project |
Team-based decision tool for evaluating improvement proposals against weighted criteria established for the organization. The outcome is a score measuring how well each improvement proposal matches the selection criteria relative to the baseline improvement. |
| Mid-project |
Team-based decision tool for evaluating product design proposals against a weighted list of customer requirements. The outcome is a score measuring how well each design proposal matches the customer requirements, relative to the baseline design. |
Data
This form has no data requirements because you use it only to collect and organize data.
Guidelines
- Use this tool as a team exercise. Do not complete it individually.
- The Pugh Matrix is similar to the Solution Desirability Matrix. Both tools are designed to facilitate a semi-scientific method for choosing the best proposal from a list of competing proposals by rating how well each one satisfies the selection criteria. The two tools differ in the following ways:
- Pugh Matrix:
- Compares how well each alternative proposal matches the baseline proposal, for each of the selection criteria
- Penalizes an alternative that is worse than the baseline for a particular selection criterion by an amount equal to the importance rating of the selection criterion; no distinction exists for being slightly worse versus dramatically worse
- Rewards an alternative that is better than the baseline for a particular selection criterion by an amount equal to the importance rating of the selection criterion; no distinction exists for being slightly better versus dramatically better
- Can be easier and more consistent to use when the number of proposals and selection criteria is large because each alternative proposal is compared to the same baseline
- Solution Desirability Matrix:
- Rates all proposals directly on how well they match the selection criteria
- Can provide a more realistic rating of the proposals because each proposal is rated directly on how well it matches the selection criteria, which creates much higher scores for better proposals
How-to
- Develop a list of the selection criteria. For evaluating product designs, list VOC requirements; for evaluating improvement proposals, list customer requirements or organizational improvement goals.
- Develop a list of all potential improvement solutions or all product designs to be rated.
- Select one potential improvement or product design as the baseline - all other proposals are compared to the baseline.
- For product designs, the baseline is usually either the current design or a preferred new design.
- For improvement proposals, the baseline is usually the improvement suggested by the team or an improvement that has strong management support.
- Enter the baseline proposal in the space provided.
- Enter the alternative product or improvement proposals along the left side of the matrix and the selection criteria across the top of the matrix.
- Apply a weighting factor to all the selection criteria. These weights might not be the same for all projects, as they can reflect localized improvement needs or changes in customer requirements. Use a 1-to-9 scale for weighting the importance of the selection criteria, using 1 for the least important criteria and 9 for the most important criteria.
- Based on team input, score how well the baseline proposal matches each of the selection criteria. Use a 1-to-9 scale for scoring the baseline, using 9 for very strong matches to the criteria, and 1 for very poor matches to the criteria.
- For each alternative proposal, the team should determine whether the alternative is better, the same, or worse than the baseline, relative to each of the selection criteria:
- Better results in a +1 score
- Same results in a 0 score
- Worse results in a -1 score
- Multiply the scores by the criteria weights and add them together to obtain the weighted score for each alternative.
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