Question

Making decisions on what to do can be difficult if there are many options and different requirements (criteria) that affect the decision. A practical way to help make decisions that involve selecting the best option from many based on how well each option satisfies each criterion is an “advanced prioritization matrix”. Using an example of purchasing a new car, television, cell phone, computer or any other item, construct an “advanced prioritization matrix” showing all options, multiple criteria, weight of each criteria and your scoring for each options against each criterion and the total score for each option. Use the table format in Word or Excel spreadsheet to demonstrate your example.

Answer 1

Let's consider I have a family of 6 people and I want a car that can accomodate my entire family, so I need a spacious car. Also I am middle class salaried person, so I need the car to be in my budget. Also the maintenance and running costs need to be low. Styling, design and overhead features are not a priority to me. Safety is of high priority because my family is going to travel in this car.

Let's consider 3 cars of similar size and develop an advanced prioritization matrix:

Scoring has been done on a scale of 1-5. 1 being low score and 5 being high score.

Weights have been given as per our requirements in a car.

Formula sheet:

Final matrix:

Since car B has highest weighted score, we should buy car B.