Everything below is also in the app itself — tap the info icon on the study list.
A trade study is the structured way engineers choose between competing options — vendors, components, designs, build-vs-buy — instead of a gut-feel call. You define weighted criteria, score every option against each one, and let the math produce a ranked, defensible result. NASA and INCOSE both treat weighted decision matrices as a standard systems-engineering technique for exactly this kind of decision.
Every study moves through four tabs, in order:
Beyond the four tabs: export a formatted PDF report from Results or Sensitivity, duplicate a whole study to explore a variant, save named scenarios on the Sensitivity screen, and use Checkpoint/Undo (top bar) to save and restore whole-study snapshots as you experiment.
The relative importance you set for each criterion (1–5) determines its weight in the final score — the app normalizes all your criteria's importance values into weights that sum to 100%. A criterion set to 5 doesn't just "matter a lot" in the abstract; it carries proportionally more of the total score than one set to 3. Write anchor text that would let a colleague score consistently without asking you what a "3" means for that specific criterion.
A ranked result that flips if one weight shifts by two percentage points isn't a robust decision — it's a coin flip dressed up with math. Sensitivity analysis tells you which criteria your conclusion actually depends on, and how much room you have before the ranking changes. Vantage Tradespace flags a "close to flipping" margin directly in the stability summary, so a fragile result doesn't quietly ship as a confident one.
A 0–100 scoring scale looks more precise than it is — nobody can reliably distinguish a 73 from a 76 for something like "ease of use." Vantage Tradespace deliberately caps scoring at 1–5, with required anchor text at 1, 3, and 5, so every score has a concrete, written meaning behind it instead of manufactured precision.
From Results or Sensitivity, once your study is fully scored, export a complete PDF report in one tap: the scoring matrix, the ranked outcome, the radar chart, the sensitivity stability summary, and any rationale notes you wrote per cell. It's meant to be presentable on its own — attach it to a proposal, or file it as a record of how and why a decision was made.
From the list of your studies, tap the duplicate icon on any study to create an independent copy — same options, criteria, and scores, under a new name you choose. Editing the copy never touches the original. Useful for exploring a real variant — a different vendor shortlist, a different scoring pass — without losing your first version.
From the top bar inside any study, save a named checkpoint before you make a batch of changes you might want to undo — then restore it later to revert the whole study (name, options, criteria, and scores) back to exactly how it was when you saved it. This is a quick, in-app snapshot for experimenting safely on this device — not a backup against losing the device itself. For that, use Export Study below.
On the Sensitivity screen, save the current weight distribution — dragged sliders, typed values, or both — as a named scenario. Load it back later to instantly return to that exact exploration, or delete it when you're done comparing.
Because your data is protected by this device's own hardware keystore, that encryption key doesn't survive a device reset, reinstall, or a device swap — losing the device means losing the studies on it. Use Export Study (the icon on each study card) to save a study to a file you control, with an optional passphrase of your own choosing. Leave it blank and the file is saved unencrypted instead. Use Import Study to bring an exported file back in, on this device or another one.
Setup and Scoring Matrix are free and unrestricted — build as many studies as you want, with your own real data, before paying anything. A single one-time purchase of $14.99 (no subscription, no account) unlocks Results, Sensitivity, PDF Export, Duplicate, and Checkpoint/Undo. Before you purchase, those screens show a bundled sample study's real results instead of yours, so you can see exactly what the unlocked experience looks like — including the interactive sensitivity sliders — before deciding.
Choose how the radar chart's option colors look from a Preset (checked to stay distinguishable for common forms of color-vision deficiency) or pick Custom colors of your own. A single app-wide accent color is also yours to change, independent of the radar chart's palette.
Everything you enter is stored in an encrypted database on your device, protected by your device's own hardware-backed keystore. There's no account, no cloud sync, and nothing about your studies is ever sent anywhere. Screens showing your study content are also protected from screenshots and the Android recent-apps preview. The only network activity this app has at all is Google Play's own purchase verification for the one-time unlock. Full detail: Privacy Policy.
Questions, a bug to report, or feedback on the app? Email: support@zeropermission.llc. We read every message but may not respond individually.