Weighted Sum
Prioritize mode — Assign percentage weights to each objective.
All objectives are combined into a single score using the weights you assign. The optimizer maximizes (or minimizes) that combined score, returning one best solution per iteration.
How Weights Work
Each objective gets a slider from 0% to 100%.
All weights must sum to 100%. Adjusting one slider rebalances the others automatically.
You can lock a slider to freeze its weight while you adjust the rest. You can lock at most n-2 sliders (where n is the number of objectives).
With three equally important objectives, each starts at 33.33%.
When to Use It
You can express relative importance as percentages.
You want a single best recommendation per iteration.
The objectives are somewhat commensurable — trading a little of one for a little of another makes practical sense.
Example
Optimizing a flow-chemistry process:
Maximize yield — weight: 70%
Minimize cost — weight: 30%
The optimizer finds conditions that give the best balance, heavily favoring yield but still keeping an eye on cost.
Good to Know
Locking a slider is useful when you have settled on one weight and want to adjust the balance among the remaining objectives.
Works well when objectives are comparable in nature. If they are not, consider Hierarchy instead.