When there are hard and fast "criteria" (as opposed to "objectives"), it is useful to screen out alternatives that do not satisfy the criteria. For example, alternatives for a decision may be required to be "technically feasible." Alternatives that are not technically feasible would be screened out and the contributions they are expected to make to objectives would not be evaluated at all.
Be careful not to mis-classify objectives as criteria. For example, if you treat cost as a criteria and specify that no alternative should cost more than $100, you could potentially eliminate a $101 alternative that significantly outperforms all the other alternatives that cost $100 or less. (See Compensatory Decision Making.)
Next: Pros and cons
