Method

TOPSIS

Rank options by a simple, intuitive rule: the best choice is closest to the ideal and farthest from the worst.

The founders

Hwang & Yoon

1981 · Kansas State University

Ching-Lai Hwang and Kwangsun Yoon introduced TOPSIS in 1981. Their insight was refreshingly geometric: measure each option's distance to an ideal and an anti-ideal point, then rank by relative closeness.

TOPSIS (1981)Distance-basedHighly cited

The idea

Closest to ideal, farthest from worst

In five steps

Normalize

Put all criteria on one scale.

Weight

Apply criteria importance.

Ideal & anti-ideal

Best and worst per criterion.

Distances

How far each option is from each.

Closeness

Rank by similarity to the ideal.

Example closeness scores

Relative closeness to the ideal (0–1)

Option A

0.78

Option B

0.54

Option C

0.29

Rank your options with TOPSIS.

Fast, intuitive, and easy to explain.

Start deciding free →

Hwang, C.L. & Yoon, K. (1981). Multiple Attribute Decision Making. Springer.