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Marvin's Toolbox.

Weighted Decision Matrix

Compare options against the criteria that matter to you. Weight each criterion, score every option, and get a clear ranking with each option's score broken down, plus a check of how close the result is and what would change it.

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Matrix

Score scale
Criterion
Score
Weight
31.3%
25%
18.8%
12.5%
12.5%
Better when
6.56
5.38
6.25

Tab walks along a row, Enter goes down a column and adds an option at the bottom, and the arrow keys go anywhere. Arrow left from an option or up from a criterion reaches its menu. Cells copied from a spreadsheet fill the grid from the focused score.

Criteria

  • 31.3%
  • 25%
  • 18.8%
  • 12.5%
  • 12.5%

Option 1 of 3

  • Pricelower is better
  • Performance
  • Battery life
  • Screen
  • Portability

Ranking

Best option
Slim ultrabook6.56 of 10
0.31 points ahead of Budget all-rounder, 3.5% of the scale.
  1. 1Slim ultrabook6.56
  2. 2Budget all-rounder6.25
  3. 3Power workstation5.38
Price 31.3%Performance 25%Battery life 18.8%Screen 12.5%Portability 12.5%

What would change it

This is a close callUnder 5 points of share

The smallest flip: raising Price from 5 to above 6.25 (31.3% to 36.2%) puts Budget all-rounder ahead.

Weight ofChangeShareNew winner
Price5 to above 6.2531.3% to 36.2%Budget all-rounder
Portability2 to below 0.7512.5% to 5.1%Budget all-rounder
Battery life3 to below 1.3318.8% to 9.3%Budget all-rounder
Performance4 to above 8.7525% to 42.2%Power workstation
Screen2 to above 11.512.5% to 45.1%Power workstation

Decision table

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About the Weighted Decision Matrix Tool

This tool builds a weighted decision matrix: options down the side, the criteria that matter across the top, and a weight on each criterion. Score every option on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, and it ranks them, shows what each criterion added to each score, and says how far first place is ahead of second.

It then checks how much the result depends on your weights. It works out the exact single weight change that would put another option first, and says so in plain words, or tells you the result is robust when no such change exists. That is often more useful than the ranking itself, because weights are usually a rough guess.

What you can do

  • Compare options with a weighted scoring model
  • Score cost-like criteria where lower is better
  • See which criterion contributed what to each score
  • Find the weight change that would flip the winner
  • Start from a template for buying a laptop, picking a job or choosing a tool
  • Paste a list of options from a notes app or another tool
  • Copy the scored matrix as a Markdown table
  • Save decisions and share them as a link

How to use the Weighted Decision Matrix

  1. 1Pick a template, or start blank and name the options and criteria. Paste a list if you already have the options written down.
  2. 2Give each criterion a weight, and switch it to lower is better for things like price or commute time.
  3. 3Fill in the scores. On a computer, Tab and the arrow keys move between cells. On a phone, the options come one at a time and you tap a number.
  4. 4Read the ranking, then check what would change it before you trust the winner.
  5. 5Copy or download the matrix as a Markdown table, or send it to the Markdown Preview.

How the score is worked out

Weights can be any numbers, because only their proportions count. Each one becomes a share of the total, shown beside it as a percentage, so weights of 5, 3 and 2 work the same as 50, 30 and 20. A weight of zero leaves a criterion out without deleting it.

An option's score is the weighted mean of its cells, so it sits on the same scale as the cells themselves. On a lower is better criterion the score is flipped first: on a scale of 1 to 10, a 2 counts as a 9. You rate things as they are, a high price gets a high number, and the tool turns that around.

Empty cells and ties

A blank cell is not a zero. An option with an open cell stays out of the ranking and shows the range it can still reach instead, and the tool tells you when it could still take first place. Open cells are marked in the grid, and so is any number that falls outside the scale.

Options with the same score share a rank and are called out as tied. The check below the ranking then says which weights would favor which of them.

What would change the result

For each criterion the tool solves for the exact weight at which another option draws level with the leader, with every other weight left alone. It is an exact calculation, not a simulation. Each change is listed with the raw weight, the share it amounts to, and the option that would take over, smallest change first.

If moving a weight by a few points of share flips the winner, the two options are close enough that the choice is really yours to make. If no single weight change can do it, the leader is at least as good as every other option on every criterion, and the result is robust.

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