Engineering change decision analysis system and methodology

A system and method of operating a computer to perform risk and decision analysis of an engineering design change in a product are provided. The method includes the steps of displaying a list of change drivers that are causing the engineering design changes and receiving a selection of a change driver from a user, displaying a set of questions soliciting general cost information associated with the engineering design change, and displaying a set of questions soliciting change driver-specific information associated with the selected change driver. The method then receives answers to the set of general cost questions from the user, and also receives answers to the set of change driver-specific questions from the user. The method then computes an expected value associated with the engineering design change using the answers saved in memory, a value associated with not implementing the engineering design change using the change driver-specific answers saved in memory, and then compares the computer expected value with the value from not making the change to generate a recommendation of whether the engineering design change should be implemented in response to the comparison.