Many traditional project management tools fail to address interdependency, which is common in complex product development projects. To address this issue, the Design Structure Matrix has been evolved [1]. Designing a complex system generally requires dividing the system into smaller modular components for the ease of design, integration, operation, and future upgrades [2]. A Design Structure Matrix is a graphical representation that visualizes the dependencies between the different sub-processes whitin a system [3]. A DSM demonstrates the importance of the sequence in which tasks or sub-processes are performed within a process. It allows the user to discover flaws in the sequence of current processes and make them more efficient. It can be used as a quick reference on process dependencies when sub-process changes are made. First used around the 1960s [4] DSMs have been used in both research and industrial and gained significant traction in the 1990s. Today, Design Structure Matrices have been used in the building construction, real estate development, semiconductor, automotive, photographic, aerospace, telecom, small-scale manufacturing, factory equipment, and electronics industries, as well as in many government agencies [4].
