The eXpress software has been designed to fit easily into many different processes. Although we recommend that designs be modeled early in the development cycle to maximize the benefit of eXpress analysis, the tool can be used as required during any phase of product development.

 

During the concept phase, for example, designers are able to see potential problems and make the appropriate changes to optimize partitioning, functional allocation, etc.  In fact, the original concept design can serve as a baseline for comparison of future revisions and lower-level designs as they become available.

 

As might be expected, the role of the software varies based on the process being used. However, most design processes require a hierarchical approach in order to support the bottom-up roll-up of data, while enforcing requirements from the top down. eXpress supports this dual approach, which is illustrated below: