Answer
Use scoring when the result should help someone compare, prioritize, or take action. Scoring is most useful when the workflow is evaluating conditions, performance, or compliance and you want a clear signal that helps reviewers understand the outcome quickly.
Scoring is usually a good fit when you want to:
compare results across sites, users, or time
identify lower-performing results that need follow-up
summarize inspection, audit, or assessment outcomes in a simple way
Scoring is usually not a good fit when the workflow is mainly:
observational or narrative
used for awareness or early reporting
documenting one-off or highly variable situations
A simple test is: What will I do differently based on this score? If there is no clear answer, the workflow probably should not use scoring.
Steps
Use scoring when the workflow evaluates something
Use scoring for workflows such as inspections, assessments, or audits.
Use it when the workflow should produce a result that can be compared or trended.
Use it when the score will help drive review, prioritization, or corrective action.
Example of Custom Scoring of a Layered Process Audit.
Avoid scoring when the score does not improve decisions
Avoid scoring for workflows that are mostly narrative or observational.
Avoid scoring for awareness-based workflows or early reporting workflows.
Avoid scoring when each submission is too unique for a score to be meaningful.
Check whether the score will be useful
Ask what action the score is supposed to drive.
Confirm the score will be reviewed and used by someone.
Confirm the scoring logic will be easy to explain to users and reviewers.
Use scoring thoughtfully
Keep the scoring approach aligned to the workflow purpose.
Avoid adding scoring just because it is available.
Use scoring to support judgment, not replace it.
Helpful notes
Good scoring should be easy to understand and tied to a real program goal.
If no one uses the score, it does not belong in the workflow.
Scoring should make the result clearer, not more complicated.