tradeoff-analysislisted

## What this skill does Provides a structured framework for comparing options under uncertainty. It surfaces criteria, weights them by stated priorities, scores each option, and produces a transparent recommendation — including the conditions under which a different option would be the right call. ## When to use it - User asks "should we use X or Y?", "which approach is better?", or "help me decide between…". - User needs to document a decision and its rationale for a team or stakeholder. - User wants to understand the trade-offs before committing to a direction. - User is revisiting a past decision to validate or challenge it. ## Instructions 1. **Name the decision.** State the decision being made in one sentence as a question (e.g., "Which message broker should we use for the order pipeline?"). 2. **Enumerate the options.** List all options under consideration. If the user has provided fewer than two, ask for alternatives before proceeding. 3. **Elicit criteria.** Identify the decision criteria from the user's context. Group into: - **Must-haves** (constraints that disqualify options if not met) - **Optimisation criteria** (factors to weigh and compare) Common criteria to consider: cost, performance, operational complexity, team expertise, vendor lock-in, time to implement, scalability, security, ecosystem maturity. 4. **Weight the criteria.** If the user has stated priorities, assign relative weights (High / Medium / Low or a 1–5 scale). Make weights expl