TradeoffAnalysen

TradeoffAnalysen is a systematic approach to evaluating alternatives when decisions affect multiple objectives that may conflict. It is used in engineering, policy making, product development, and operations management to make the implicit compromises explicit and comparable.

The typical process starts with clarifying objectives and constraints, identifying a set of alternatives, and selecting the criteria by which to compare them. Criteria are measured on comparable scales, and stakeholders assign weights or priorities to reflect relative importance. Each alternative is scored against each criterion, and results are aggregated through a chosen method, such as a weighted sum, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), TOPSIS, or PROMETHEE, producing a ranked order or a performance frontier. Sensitivity analyses test how results change with different weights or data assumptions, and the trade-offs are interpreted in light of risk, uncertainty, and practical feasibility.

Common applications include evaluating product designs (cost, performance, reliability), infrastructure projects (cost, environmental impact, social benefit), healthcare interventions (effectiveness, safety, access), and software or policy choices. The method emphasizes transparency, reproducibility, and stakeholder engagement but introduces subjectivity in weighting and normalization, which must be documented. Limitations include dependence on data quality, the choice of criteria, and potential bias in weighting schemes.

Related concepts include multi-criteria decision analysis, Pareto efficiency, and sensitivity analysis. TradeoffAnalysen aim to support informed decisions by making compromises explicit and justifiable.