Characteristic

Definition

A characteristic is a distinguishing feature.

Classification

Sub classes of characteristics are:

- physical characteristics (e.g. mechanical, electrical, chemical or biological characteristics);

- sensory characteristics (e.g. related to smell, touch, taste, sight, hearing);

- behavioural characteristics (e.g. courtesy, honesty, veracity);

- temporal characteristics (e.g. punctuality, reliability, availability, continuity);

- ergonomic characteristics (e.g. physiological characteristic, or related to human safety);

- functional characteristics (e.g. maximum speed of an car).

See also

Property

Notes

- A characteristic can be inherent or assigned.

- A characteristic can be qualitative or quantitative.

Examples

A Ability to … Ability to concentrate Able-bodiedness Acceptability Acceptability degree Accessibility Accountability Accuracy Adaptability Adaptivity Added value Adjustability Affection Affinity Affordability Aimed towards … Analysability Anointability Anticipative capacity Appealing Applicability Approachability Appropriateness Attainability Attractiveness Authenticity Authority to … Autonomy Availability Avoidability Awareness B Beauty C Capability Carefulness Changeability Clarity Clearness Coherence Cohesion Collaboration-oriented Collector's item-worthy Comfort Comparability Compatibility Competence Competence (professional) Competitive force Competitiveness Completeness Complexity Compliance Comprehensibility Conceivability Confidentiality Congruity Connection with … Consistency Containability Continuity Contradictability Controllability Coping ability Correctness Courage Coverage (degree) Creativity Credibility Creditworthiness Customer focus Customer-friendliness D Daring Decisiveness Dedication Demonstrability Dependency Depth Desirability Discretion Disputability Diversity Divisibility Downgradable Duality Dynamic E Ease Ease of operation Effectiveness Efficiency Employability Energy Enthusiasm Entrepreneurial spirit Environmental awareness Environmental friendliness Equality Equipment level Equivalence Exchangeability Exclusivity Expandability Expertise Explanatory power Expressiveness F Fairness Faithfulness Falsifiability Familiarity Fastidiousness Faultlessness Feasibility Fertility Filling degree Findability Fit in-capacity Flawlessness Flexibility Form Freshness Friendliness Full-fledgedness Functionality Future-proofness G Growth H Habitability Hackability Health Helpfulness Heterogeneousness Homogeneity Honesty Human orientation I Identifiability Image Immunity to stress Impartiality Importance In concrete terms Independence Influentialness Informality Initiative Innovative capacity Innovativeness Inspiration Installability Integrity Intensity Interpretability Inventiveness Involvement J Justice L Lawfulness Leadership Learnability Learning capacity Legality Legitimacy Level Level-headedness Liability Linkability Loyalty M Maintainability Manageability Manoeuvrability Market orientation Maturity Measurability Mobility Modifiability Modificational capacity Motivational capacity Multiformity Mutational degree N Naturalness Neatness Necessity Negotiability Network competence O Objectivity Obligingness Openness Operability Operation Operational safety P Perceptibility Perfection Performance Perseverance Persuasiveness Pertness Planability Plausibility Policy relevance Portability Potential Power Precision Predictability Predictive power Preparedness to … Presence Prevalence Process-oriented Productivity Product-oriented Professionalism Profitability Progress Promptness Proportionality Protectability Punctuality Purchasing power Pureness Purpose Purposiveness R Range Rareness Reaction time Readability Realism Reasonableness Recognisability Recovery time Redundancy Relatability Relevance Reliability Reliability Reliability of supply Reparability Repeatability Replaceability Representativeness Reproducibility Resource behaviour Resourcefulness Response rate Responsibility Responsibility sense Responsiveness Result-oriented Reusability Riskiness Robustness S Safety Sanctionability Satisfaction Scientific in nature Scope Selectivity Self-confidence Self-insight Sensitivity Servitude Shallowness Sharpness Shrewdness Simplicity Simultaneousness Sincerity Single-mindedness Skilfulness Speed Sportsmanship Stability Steadiness Straightforwardness Strength Structure Subsidiarity Sufficiency Surveyability Sustainability Symmetry Synergy level T Tenability Tenaciousness Tendency towards … Testability Thoroughness Thoughtfulness Timeliness Topicality Traceability Transferability Transitional rate Transparency U Unambiguousness Unavoidability Uniformity Uniqueness Usability Usefulness V Validity Value Value in use Variance Verifiability Versatility Visibility Vitality Voluntariness Vulnerability W Well-foundedness Wholeness Willingness Workability

Directly measurable attributes (primary quality) Acceleration Age Capacity Colour Cost-effectiveness Costs Delivery time Dimensions Duration Frequency Height Length Life span Output Periodicity Price Profit Quantity Reaction time Recovery time Response time Size Speed Turnover Volume Weight Width