satisficing

Satisficing is a decision-making strategy that aims for a satisfactory or adequate result rather than the optimal one. The term, a blend of satisfy and suffice, was introduced by economist and cognitive scientist Herbert A. Simon as part of his theory of bounded rationality. Satisficing recognizes that decision makers operate under constraints—limited information, time, and cognitive capacity—and often search until they find an option that meets a pre-set threshold of acceptability.

Compared with optimization, which seeks the best possible outcome by exhaustively evaluating alternatives, satisficing uses heuristics or simple rules of thumb. A decision maker sets an aspiration level and continues to search until an option meeting that level is found, at which point they stop. Once the environment changes or information updates, the threshold can be revised.

Applications appear in management, economics, psychology, and artificial intelligence. Examples include selecting the first acceptable supplier, choosing a product that satisfies minimum requirements, or stopping a computer search when a candidate solution meets the criteria. Advantages include speed and cognitive efficiency; drawbacks include the possibility of settling for a suboptimal outcome if the threshold is poorly calibrated. Variants consider different kinds of satisficing, such as procedural satisficing (satisficing the process) versus outcome satisficing. Satisficing is a core element of bounded rationality and is often contrasted with optimizing and exhaustive search.