Build a real decision matrix when there are too many competing factors to hold in your head
A gut feeling is fine for two options. It breaks down at five options and six criteria.
- Use it for
- Anyone facing a decision with several options and several factors that trade off against each other.
Decisions with more than a couple of options and more than one or two criteria overload working memory fast — you end up anchoring on whichever factor you happened to think about last, or on the option that "feels" right without being able to say exactly why. A decision matrix forces every option against every criterion explicitly, which is slower than a gut call but surfaces tradeoffs that intuition alone quietly drops.
This prompt builds a real weighted matrix, including forcing you to commit to weights before seeing how they affect the outcome — otherwise it's easy to reverse-engineer weights that justify a decision you'd already made.
When not to use this
For a decision between two clearly-differentiated options, or one that's genuinely low-stakes, this is more process than it's worth — trust your gut and move on. This is for real complexity: several options, several criteria that pull in different directions.
Did this work?
You end up with a decision you can explain to someone else in terms of the actual tradeoffs, not just "it felt right" — and the matrix surfaces at least one tradeoff you hadn't consciously weighed.
Tested on claude-opus-5. Evidence status is draft; it moves to battle-tested only on recorded runs, never by hand.