The properties of a mixture are almost always a function of the relative proportions of the ingredients rather than their absolute amounts. In experiments with mixtures, a factor's value is its proportion in the mixture, which falls between zero and one. The sum of the proportions in any mixture recipe is one (100%).

Designs for mixture experiments are fundamentally different from those for screening. Screening experiments are orthogonal. That is, over the course of an experiment, the setting of one factor varies independently of any other factor. Thus, the interpretation of screening experiments is relatively simple, because the effects of the factors on the response are separable.

With mixtures, it is impossible to vary one factor independently of all the others. When you change the proportion of one ingredient, the proportion of one or more other ingredients must also change to compensate. This simple fact has a profound effect on every aspect of experimentation with mixtures: the factor space, the design properties, and the interpretation of the results.

Because the proportions sum to one, mixture designs have an interesting geometry. The feasible region for the response in a mixture design takes the form of a simplex. For example, consider three factors in a 3-D graph. The plane where the sum of the three factors sum to one is a triangle-shaped slice. You can rotate the plane to see the triangle face-on and see the points in the form of a ternary plot.