Negative relationships are particularly important, as they represent areas where trade-offs are needed. If these are not identified and resolved early in the process, there is a danger that they will lead to unfulfilled requirements. Some of these trade-offs may cross departmental or even company boundaries. This should not present problems in a proper team environment, but if designers are working in isolation, unresolved requirement conflicts can lead to repeated and unproductive iterations.
To simplify data entry, the correlation matrix is rotated to an orthogonal layout, and the design requirements repeated at the side. It is displayed in the normal way when the chart is printed. Design requirements are highlighted to make it obvious which cell is selected.
