Satisficing

Satisficing is a decision-making strategy aimed at finding a good enough, as opposed to an optimal or best solution. The goal of satisficing is to meet certain criteria of adequacy without spending too much effort in decision-making.

The word satisfice is a portmanteau of satisfy and suffice, and is in contrast with maximize and optimize. The term was coined by Nobel Prize-winning economist Herbert Simon. Simon's argument was that human beings may not have the resources or ability to determine optimal solutions, and often need to choose a good enough solution.

Barry Schwartz, in his book The Paradox of Choice, recommends satisficing as a strategy to combat the deluge of choices facing people in modern society. He argues that satisficers are in general more able to enjoy their choices than maximizers, even if the maximizers' choices are objectively better.