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What Progressive Views Are

Progressive workflow views are pre-configured column visibility presets in Risksheet that match each stage of the FMEA analysis process. Instead of showing all 30+ columns at once, each view reveals only the 5-10 columns needed for a specific task. This guides users through the AIAG-VDA FMEA methodology step-by-step:
  1. Identify Failure Modes — Shows structure columns (Item, Failure Mode, Cause) and classification
  2. Initial Risk Ranking — Adds Severity, Occurrence, Detection, and pre-mitigation Action Priority columns
  3. Link Upstream/Downstream — Shows traceability columns to SFMEA or DFMEA
  4. Define Mitigations — Displays risk control columns and control type fields
  5. Verify Controls — Shows control verification status and requirements traceability
  6. Final Risk Evaluation — Reveals post-mitigation Occurrence, Detection, and AP columns
  7. Risk Summary — Minimal view showing only final risk metrics and controls

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How to Switch Views

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Using the View Dropdown

  1. Open your FMEA document in Risksheet
  2. Locate the View dropdown in the top toolbar (default shows “Default View”)
  3. Click the dropdown to see all available workflow views
  4. Select the view matching your current analysis stage
The sheet instantly re-renders, showing only columns relevant to that stage. Hidden columns remain in the database — no data is lost.

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Keyboard Navigation

  • Press Tab to move between visible columns in the current view
  • Press Enter to edit the focused cell
  • Use Arrow keys to navigate without changing cell selection
Train your team to follow the numbered view sequence (1→2→3→4→5→6→7). This enforces the correct FMEA methodology and prevents users from jumping to post-mitigation ratings before defining controls.

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View-Specific Guidance

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View 1: Identify Failure Modes

Purpose: Build the three-level hierarchy (Item → Failure Mode → Cause) Visible Columns:
  • Item/Function/Characteristic (Level 1)
  • Failure Mode Description (Level 2)
  • Cause Description (Level 3)
  • SC/CC Classification
Activities:
  • Create parent items (Functions for SFMEA, Characteristics for PFMEA)
  • Define failure modes for each item
  • Identify root causes for each failure mode
  • Assign SC (Safety Critical) or CC (Critical Characteristic) classification
diagram
Users sometimes skip Level 1 and create failure modes directly. Always create the parent item first (Function, Characteristic, or Process Step) before adding failure modes.

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View 2: Initial Risk Ranking

Purpose: Assess pre-mitigation risk using Severity, Occurrence, Detection (SOD) ratings Visible Columns:
  • Cause (hierarchy context)
  • Severity (1-10)
  • Occurrence (0-10)
  • Detection (0-10)
  • Pre-mitigation Action Priority (H/M/L) — auto-calculated
Activities:
  • Rate Severity based on customer impact (use FMEA Severity scale)
  • Rate Occurrence based on failure probability and Cpk data
  • Rate Detection based on current control effectiveness
  • Review auto-calculated Action Priority — red (High) items require mandatory corrective action
Severity is inherent to the failure effect — it’s the same before and after mitigation. Only Occurrence and Detection improve with controls. If Severity changes, you’re analyzing a different failure mode.
Purpose: Establish FMEA cascade traceability (SFMEA ↔ DFMEA ↔ PFMEA) Visible Columns:
  • Cause (context)
  • Upstream Risks (SFMEA → DFMEA or DFMEA → PFMEA)
  • Downstream Risks (reverse direction)
Activities for DFMEA:
  • Link DFMEA causes to System FMEA failure modes via “causes” relationship
  • Document how design failures trace to system-level risks
Activities for PFMEA:
  • Link PFMEA causes to Design FMEA failure modes
  • Show manufacturing process failures that could trigger design-level risks
See Link to Upstream SFMEA for detailed workflow.
Upstream links show “this cause is triggered by…” while downstream links show “this cause triggers…”. Both directions are maintained automatically via Polarion’s bidirectional relationships.

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View 4: Define Mitigations

Purpose: Assign risk controls to high-priority failure causes Visible Columns:
  • Cause (context)
  • Pre-mitigation Action Priority (for prioritization)
  • Risk Controls (linked work items)
  • Control Type (Design/Protective/Information)
Activities:
  • Create risk control work items for all High AP causes
  • Assign control type per ISO 26262 safety hierarchy
  • Link controls via “mitigates” relationship
  • Assign ownership and target dates for control implementation
The Risk Controls column displays nested sub-rows under each cause. Click [+] to create new controls inline.
All High Action Priority causes MUST have at least one risk control. Medium AP should have controls where feasible. Low AP may not require controls but should document rationale.

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View 5: Verify Controls

Purpose: Validate that controls are linked to requirements and test cases Visible Columns:
  • Risk Controls
  • Requirements (traceability chain)
  • Test Cases (verification evidence)
Activities:
  • Verify each risk control links to at least one Design Requirement
  • Confirm requirements link to Verification Test Cases
  • Review test execution status
  • Document any gaps in the verification chain
The Requirements and Test Cases columns use server-side Velocity templates to traverse multi-hop relationships: Risk Control → Design Requirement → Verification Test Case.
A green checkmark icon appears when the full control→requirement→test trace is complete. Missing links show warning icons.

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View 6: Final Risk Evaluation

Purpose: Re-assess Occurrence and Detection after controls are implemented Visible Columns:
  • Cause (context)
  • Pre-mitigation Occurrence/Detection (read-only reference)
  • Post-mitigation Occurrence (editable)
  • Post-mitigation Detection (editable)
  • Post-mitigation Action Priority (auto-calculated)
Activities:
  • Update Occurrence rating based on prevention control effectiveness
  • Update Detection rating based on new inspection/testing controls
  • Review auto-calculated post-mitigation AP
  • Document rationale if post-mitigation AP remains High
Risk Reduction Validation:
MetricPre-MitigationPost-MitigationExpected Trend
Occurrence8 (High)4 (Low)↓ Prevention controls reduce failure probability
Detection7 (Poor)3 (Excellent)↓ New detection controls improve monitoring
Action PriorityH (Red)L (Green)↓ Combined improvement reduces residual risk
If post-mitigation Occurrence and Detection don’t improve, your controls are ineffective. Re-evaluate control design or add additional controls.

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View 7: Risk Summary

Purpose: Executive-level view showing final risk status Visible Columns:
  • Item/Failure Mode/Cause hierarchy (collapsed)
  • Post-mitigation Action Priority
  • Risk Controls (count and status)
  • SC/CC Classification
Activities:
  • Review overall risk posture for management presentations
  • Identify any remaining High AP items requiring escalation
  • Generate FMEA summary reports
  • Export to PDF for ISO 26262 documentation packages
This view hides all rating columns (S/O/D) and focuses on outcomes. Row headers inherit color from post-mitigation AP (red/orange/green) for instant visual scanning.

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Verification

After switching views during your FMEA workflow, you should see:
  • Only relevant columns visible — unrelated fields are hidden but not deleted
  • Color-coded row headers — matching the post-mitigation Action Priority (red for High risk)
  • Auto-calculated AP values — updating instantly when you edit S/O/D ratings
  • Numbered view names — following the 1-7 workflow sequence in the dropdown

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See Also