Step by step
Define the decision and deadline
Write exactly what is being chosen, who owns it and when delay becomes more costly than imperfect information.
Choose five meaningful criteria
Include outcome, cost, effort, risk and reversibility or replace them with criteria that genuinely change the decision.
Set deal-breakers first
Remove any option that fails a mandatory safety, legal, accessibility, compatibility or budget constraint.
Score and challenge the result
Use a simple consistent scale, record evidence and run a sensitivity check on the two criteria that matter most.
Ready-to-use checklist
- Decision and deadline written
- Three realistic options selected
- Deal-breakers applied
- Evidence separated from guesses
- Criteria weighted consistently
- Review or exit point agreed
Common problems
Scores are mostly guesses
Identify the one uncertain score most likely to change the winner and research or test only that point.
Two options remain tied
Prefer the more reversible choice or run a small trial with a defined success measure.