is the first step in the decision process where we "structure" a decision model by identifying objectives, alternatives, and participants, and assigning roles to participants for providing judgments or data. After structuring the hierarchy of objectives and identifying alternatives, we can define the measurement methods and measurement scales.
DEFINE MODEL
DEFINE MODEL 
REVIEW / REFINE MODEL
Structuring and defining the decision model by identifying objectives (criteria) into a hierarchy, identifying alternative courses of action, determining which objectives each of the alternatives contributes to, and defining the information documents.
DEFINE PARTICIPANTS AND ROLES
DEFINE Identify decision participants and participant groups. Participant groups are recommended if the model will have more than a few participants. Roles for providing judgments or data can be assigned at the participant group level and then tweaked for individual participants.
SET MEASUREMENT OPTIONS
Defining how priorities are to be derived for the relative importance of the objectives as well as the relative preference of the alternatives with respect to the objectives. This involves identifying the measurement methods and scales, display, and judgment preferences.
DEFINE INSIGHT QUESTIONNAIRES
Identifying optional insight surveys which can be presented to the participants at the beginning of the input collection process, at the end of the input collection process, or both.
