Judgment Criteria

Declares the criteria the model should use to evaluate evidence, weigh trade-offs, and handle uncertainty while generating.

Also known asEvaluation CriteriaDecision PolicyEpistemic FramingJudgment Policy

Problem

Without explicit criteria, the model defaults to generic, socially agreeable, or stereotype-driven evaluation; user preferences leak in as implicit evidence.

Solution

Declare the evaluation policy - evidence standards, trade-offs, uncertainty handling, preference treatment - before generation. Explicit criteria shift what the model optimizes for while selecting among plausible continuations.

Example

One worked example. The book has 2–4 per technique.

Prompt

Evaluate this resume for a Customer Success Manager role using these judgment criteria:

1. Evidence standard: Treat only resume facts as evidence. Treat impressions and preferences as non-evidence.
2. Trade-offs: Optimize for risk reduction over speed.
3. Uncertainty: Separate Knowns, Unknowns, and Risks.
4. Recommendation rule: Recommend a next step only if the evidence meets the bar for the role; otherwise specify what must be validated.

Resume:

* 2 years in customer support at a SaaS company
* Managed a small portfolio of onboarding accounts
* Basic Excel and SQL

Output: Knowns, Unknowns, Risks, Recommendation.

Response

Knowns: 2 years of SaaS customer support experience; managed a small onboarding account portfolio; basic Excel and SQL.
Unknowns: renewal ownership, escalation handling, success metrics delivered, stakeholder management depth, customer segment complexity.
Risks: possible over-leveling if the role requires enterprise account ownership or quota-linked renewals; limited evidence of measurable customer outcomes.
Recommendation: Do not make a hiring decision from this resume alone. Advance only to a structured interview that validates account ownership, stakeholder management, escalation handling, and measurable outcomes.

Techniques

Concrete ways to implement Judgment Criteria. Each technique fits a different situation.

01
Worldview Lens
Declare the evaluation framework (evidence, priorities, trade-offs, uncertainty handling) for direct control over how the model judges information.
02
Stance Cue
Declare how user preferences and beliefs should be weighted during evaluation to prevent agreement signals from masquerading as evidence.

Full treatment in the book