A microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS) device includes a driven mass and has a natural stiffness or damping. An actuator applies force to the mass, movement of which is measured by a sensing capacitor. A control circuit operates the actuator per displacement or velocity of the driven mass, so that a characteristic stiffness or damping of the mechanical subsystem is different from the respective natural value. A method of transforming a MEMS device design includes determining an aim performance value of the design and a baseline performance uncertainty of the design, selecting candidate sets of parameter values, determining a candidate, first, and second performance value for each, scoring the candidates, and repeating until one of the candidates satisfies a termination criterion, so the transformed design using that candidate set has the aim performance value and the respective first and second performance values closer to each other than the baseline performance uncertainty.