Step 1
List all of your options as the row labels on the table, and list the factors that you need to consider as the column headings. For example, if you were buying a new laptop, factors to consider might be cost, dimensions, and hard disk size.
Step 2
Next, work your way down the columns of your table, scoring each option for each of the factors in your decision. Score each option from 0 (poor) to 5 (very good). Note that you do not have to have a different score for each option – if none of them are good for a particular factor in your decision, then all options should score 0.
Step 3
The next step is to work out the relative importance of the factors in your decision. Show these as numbers from, say, 0 to 5, where 0 means that the factor is absolutely unimportant in the final decision, and 5 means that it is very important. (It's perfectly acceptable to have factors with the same importance.)
Tip:
These values may be obvious. If they are not, then use a technique such as Paired Comparison Analysis to estimate them.
Step 4
Now multiply each of your scores from step 2 by the values for relative importance of the factor that you calculated in step 3. This will give you weighted scores for each option/factor combination.
Step 5
Finally, add up these weighted scores for each of your options. The option that scores the highest wins!
