criteriaintended

Criteriaintended is a term used in evaluation and design discussions to refer to the set of criteria that an actor or system intends to apply when judging outcomes, decisions, or performances. It emphasizes the designer's or decision-maker's goals and values as expressed in intended measures rather than what is measured in practice.

The concept distinguishes criteriaintended from criteriaactual, the latter being the criteria that are actually used or observed in real evaluation, which may diverge due to data availability, measurement constraints, or organizational incentives.

In practice, identifying criteriaintended involves documenting design goals, stakeholder requirements, and explicit success metrics, and it is used to assess alignment between intended and actual evaluation. It helps reveal bias and helps ensure accountability.

Common domains include software development, public policy, and AI deployment, where criteriaintended might include fairness, transparency, or user experience, while criteriaactual might emphasize efficiency or cost.

Limitations include the potential for drift between intended and actual criteria, and the challenge of measuring subjective criteria. It is often supplemented with traceability analyses and impact assessment.

See also: design intent, evaluation criteria, measurement bias, alignment.