Designgröße

Designgröße is a term used in engineering and design discourse to denote a design parameter or variable that is chosen during the development process to influence the behavior, performance, or characteristics of a system or product. It encompasses the quantities that the designer can set or adjust, as opposed to quantities that are imposed by external requirements or operating conditions.

In contexts such as control theory, product design, and mechanical engineering, designgrößen are selected to achieve specified objectives. They are often contrasted with Zielgröße (target or setpoint) and Störgröße (disturbance). The designgröße is optimized within given constraints to meet performance criteria, reliability, cost, and manufacturability. The process typically involves modeling the system, evaluating trade-offs, and performing sensitivity or robustness analyses to ensure acceptable behavior under variability.

Typical examples include a gear ratio or mass distribution in a mechanical system, component values (such as resistors or capacitors) in an electronic circuit, or material choices and dimensions in a structural element. In software or product design, designgrößen can refer to configurable parameters that affect user experience or system efficiency.

Determination of designgrößen relies on methods such as optimization, design of experiments, and tolerance analysis. The goal is to select values that deliver the desired performance while respecting constraints and ensuring feasibility in production. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with Entwurfsgröße or Gestaltungsgröße, depending on the field and regional usage. See also Zielgröße, Störgröße, and robustness in design.