Morphological analysis (problem-solving)

[1] General morphology has found use in fields including engineering design, technological forecasting, organizational development and policy analysis.

[2] General morphology was developed by Fritz Zwicky, the Bulgarian-born, Swiss-national astrophysicist based at the California Institute of Technology.

Among others, Zwicky applied morphological analysis to astronomical studies and jet and rocket propulsion systems.

As a problem-structuring and problem-solving technique, morphological analysis was designed for multi-dimensional, non-quantifiable problems where causal modelling and simulation do not function well, or at all.

Zwicky developed this approach to address seemingly non-reducible complexity: using the technique of cross-consistency assessment (CCA),[1] the system allows for reduction by identifying the possible solutions that actually exist, eliminating the illogical solution combinations in a grid box rather than reducing the number of variables involved.

A morphological box for bread with six categories arranged in rows: Flour, Leavening, Shape, Crust, Additions, and Baking. Each row contains 4 options with selected items highlighted in green or blue boxes. Selected combinations appear to create two bread types shown at the bottom: For Olive Ciabatta (shown with green highlights): White flour, Yeast leavening, Flat shape, Chewy crust, Olives as additions, and Oven baking method. For Baguette (shown with blue highlights): White flour, Yeast leavening, Loaf shape, Crispy crust, Plain (no additions), and Steam baking method.
An example morphological box illustrating the attributes of different types of bread