Multi-Criteria Analysis

What the framework is

Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) ranks options that differ in several ways at once. You judge each option against a handful of criteria, weight the criteria by importance, and combine the results into one ranking. It makes the trade-offs explicit instead of leaving them inside someone's head.

What the result looks like

When it earns its place

Use it when no option is best on everything: the cheapest is slowest, the fastest is riskiest. Typical uses are choosing sites, projects, investments or programme designs. For suppliers, the vendor selection template is the same method, set up for that job.

Watch for three traps:

• Overlapping criteria. "Cost" and "affordability" count the same thing twice.
• Too many criteria. Past six, each one stops mattering.
• Hidden weights. The weights are value judgements. Whoever sets them shapes the result, so record who did.

How to run it with a group

1. Define the options and three to six criteria that don't overlap. The template starts with five; rename them to fit.
2. Agree the weights before anyone judges the options.
3. Participants compare the options two at a time on each criterion. Participants do not need an account to respond.
4. Read the overall ranking, then the ranking per criterion. Ask whether the winner would change if the most debated criterion counted for less. If it would, the decision rests on that weight, and it deserves the discussion.

More templates like this

• ICE Scoring

  Prioritise options by Impact, Confidence and Ease. The criteria can be changed, added to and weighted.

• RICE Prioritisation

  Prioritise options by Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. The criteria can be changed, added to and weighted.

• Value vs Effort

  Prioritise options by Value versus Effort to surface quick wins and avoid time sinks. The criteria can be changed, added to and weighted.

• WSJF

  Prioritise by Cost of Delay (User & Business Value, Time Criticality, Risk Reduction & Opportunity) against Job Size. The criteria can be changed, added to and weighted.

• Jobs To Be Done

  Prioritise the customer needs, frustrations, and outcomes that matter most. Useful for innovation, product strategy, service improvement, and customer research. The criteria can be changed, added to and weighted.

• Assumption Prioritisation

  Identify which assumptions, uncertainties, or hypotheses are most important to test first. Useful for innovation, startups, strategy, and experimentation. The criteria can be changed, added to and weighted.