PSD.9:1 - Problem frame

Use this when a scorecard’s criteria came from a template, “importance” weights have no stated meaning, or the same benefit appears under several headings. Also use it when people agree that reliability, development, safety, or fairness matters but mean different consequences for different subjects.

Begin with one concern: important to whom, about which subject and situation, and why? Trace it to a consequence that could distinguish the live alternatives. Then state how that consequence will be represented and whether it may be traded against another. The gain is a comparison whose value assumptions can be understood and challenged.

The governed object is the value account for that comparison. An objective expresses what is wanted; a measure describes a characteristic; a preference orders consequences; a protected condition limits permissible trade-offs. They can be related without becoming the same thing. Neither an expressed preference nor a numerical weight supplies authority to waive a duty or another person’s rights.

Do not use this pattern when a current, qualified value account already answers the exact comparison question. Use the direct measurement practice for a missing measurement alone, the appropriate authority or domain practice for a condition’s current force, and C.11.DUA for a disputed requirement’s justification. Use the authorized choice owner for the later decision. This pattern does not determine universally correct values.