In materials engineering there is a similar technique to the articles "misfit analysis" used for materials selection. It is not uncommon to have competing const

In materials engineering there is a similar technique to the articles "misfit analysis" used for materials selection. It is not uncommon to have competing constraints. For example to address a problem like designing a beam section optimally you want a beam thats as light as possible, meets the minimum stiffness requirements (usually with an added safety factor) and is still competitvely costed - depending on how the constraints are weighted (cost vs weight vs performance) it could mean the difference between aluminum, steel or carbon fibre for example. The real science lies in expressing the constraints and weighting them against one another correctly.