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Decision matrix
Scores several options against weighted criteria and shows how close the top two are.
It runs entirely in this browser tab: nothing you type is uploaded, and nothing here counts down, rings or records.
Settings
- Scores mean
- A cost matrix and a benefit matrix are the same arithmetic read in opposite directions. Choices: Higher is better, Lower is better.
- Show the working
- Off shows only the totals, which is what fits a phone.
- Say how close the top two are
- A gap of one point out of sixty is a matrix that has not decided anything.
How to use it
- Paste your text into the box above, or open a file.
- Adjust the settings beside it until the result is what you wanted.
- Copy the result, or save it as a file. The result updates as you type.
Questions
- Why is there no click counter or reaction timer?
- Because both are a button and a clock, and this page is a function from one text to one result. A reaction timer that measured a browser's own scheduling delay would be reporting the wrong number confidently, which is worse than not shipping it. All eight of the group's device tools are named on the hub instead.
- Does the break schedule remind me?
- No. There is no clock, no notification and no code here that could make one. What it does is write the day out in advance — work, breaks and lunch in the middle of whatever day you gave — so you can print it or put it in a calendar that does ring.
- Will the printed ruler be the right size?
- It will if your printer does not scale the page, which is what the hundred-millimetre check bar is for: hold a ruler against it. The drawing is an SVG whose width is stated in millimetres, so the size is in the file rather than in the viewer.
- Does the decision matrix tell me what to choose?
- No, and it says so on every result. It multiplies your scores by your weights, which makes your own judgement visible; a matrix that came out the way you hoped is a matrix you weighted. What it adds is how close the top two were.
Other tools for deciding
Pros and cons
Weighs the arguments on each side and says which way, or that it is too close to call.
Eisenhower matrix
Sorts tasks into the four quadrants and says when the second one is empty.
Three-point estimate
Turns best, likely and worst into one figure, and adds the variances rather than the spreads.
All fifteen tools