Decision → alternatives → reason → consequence → evidence. Exam-style A decision about tools and techniques What decision did you make, and what did it influence? DECISION: stored the data in a relational database rather than a flat JSON file. ALTERNATIVES REJECTED: a flat file (simpler to start, but no integrity or querying) and a spreadsheet (unusable concurrently). REASON: the outcome needed related records — users, bookings and resources — and had to prevent a booking referring to a deleted resource. INFLUENCE ON THE OUTCOME: made the search and filter features feasible with a single query, and moved validation into constraints so the interface could not create bad data. COST: added setup complexity and a hosting dependency, and cost about a week of the timeline. EVIDENCE: the data model image, showing the foreign key that enforces it. ✓ Naming the rejected alternatives and the cost is what makes it analysis. A decision with no downside was probably not a decision. Exam-style A decision made in response to stakeholder feedback What feedback did you get, and what did you change because of it? FEEDBACK: a test user (or client, or teacher) said the booking form was confusing about which fields were required. DECISION: added inline validation and marked required fields, rather than only failing on submit. INFLUENCE ON THE OUTCOME: fewer failed submissions in later testing, and a cleaner error state in the UI. EVIDENCE: a before/after of the form, or your notes from the feedback session. ✓ Every schedule 2023–2025 names stakeholder feedback as its own decision category, equal to tools/techniques and end-user considerations — have a real example ready, not just tools and end-users. ✕
A decision with no rejected alternative is a description, not an analysis
Naming what you did ("I used a database") scores Achieved at best. The mark is in what you did NOT do and why — the rejected alternative, its downside, and the specific consequence for the outcome. If your write-up has no cost or trade-off, it probably has not found the actual decision yet.