A method of simulating operation of a bitcell includes determining sensitivities of a bitcell model to different component characteristics and device parameters, such as device temperature, operating voltage, and process characteristics. The determined sensitivities are normalized, so that each normalized value represents the relative sensitivity of the bitcell, under the simulated device parameters, to the component characteristic associated with the value. The normalized sensitivity values can be scaled based on a tolerance factor, and the adjusted sensitivities used to model the behavior of each component of the bitcell in subsequent simulations.