1. A method of selecting historical problem/solution cases for a design having a case base, comprising the steps of: a) creating an arrangement of anchor points that combine observed deviations from functional specifications at predefined measurement points on the design; b) providing a set of historical problem/solution cases associated with the design; c) modifying the arrangement of the anchor points and extracting a dynamic problem signature from the new arrangement; d) ranking the set of historical problem/solution cases according to their similarity to the extracted signature; e) repeating steps c) and d) until rank scoring is of sufficient quality; f) selecting a problem/solution case based on its rank score; g) evaluating the selected problem/solution case based upon divergence from the functional specifications; and h) repeating steps c) through f) as necessary to identify one or more problem/solution cases applicable to the design.