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One contradiction is a trade-off. Nine is a problem shape.
Look up one contradiction and the matrix gives you a short list of principles. Look up the next one and you get a different list. Work through a whole problem that way and you end up with several lists and no way to tell which principle matters most. This tool counts across them. The principles that keep reappearing are the ones acting on the problem itself, not on one symptom of it.
Log a contradiction
CONSOLIDATED RANKING
This is the complete matrix, not a sample: all 39 parameters, all 40 principles, and every combination of them. It runs on your own computer, so nothing you type here is sent anywhere. Definitions for all 39 parameters and all 40 principles are included. There is no save — if you close or reload this page, your contradictions are gone, though Copy summary will put the analysis on your clipboard. The desktop application is what saves cases.
Why ranking across contradictions changes the answer
The matrix was never meant to be consulted once. A real engineering problem has several trade-offs pulling against each other, and they are not independent.
A single lookup overfits
A cell returns four principles at most, and often fewer — 273 of the 1,521 cells are empty. Whatever comes back looks equally plausible, and nothing in the list tells you which principle addresses the problem rather than the particular trade-off you happened to write down first.
Recurrence is the signal
Log every contradiction you can state, and count. A principle suggested by seven of your nine contradictions is acting on something structural. One that appears once is answering a local symptom, and solving it will move the problem rather than remove it.
Curation stays yours
The matrix suggests; you decide. Click any principle to discard it for that contradiction and the ranking recounts without it. Where a suggestion looks wrong, it is usually because the matrix matched a parameter name that does not mean in your problem what it means in the matrix.
The desktop version
The browser tool is the full matrix and the full ranking. The application is what you need once a problem outlives a single sitting.
| Worked examples | Real examples for every principle — the part that makes an abstract principle click. Descriptions and parameter definitions are free above; the examples are here. |
|---|---|
| Cases | Save, restore, duplicate and delete named problems — each with its description, contradictions and your curated selections |
| Consolidation | Rank your kept principles or everything the matrix suggested, and compare the two; toggle a principle across every contradiction at once; record the conclusion you reached |
| Export | Generate a report of the case: contradictions, matrix references, ranked principles and notes |
| Knowledge base | Embedded, with the option to load an edited or extended matrix from file |
| Runs on | Windows, standalone, no internet connection required |
Get the desktop application
Free download. Tell me where to send it and I'll also send a note when the knowledge base or the tool changes.
Working sessions
The tool handles the lookup and the counting. Stating the contradictions correctly is the hard part, and it is usually where a session with someone outside the problem earns its cost. I run facilitated contradiction analysis on site or remote.