Issues in the Design and Evaluation of Decision-Analytic Aids
Abstract
During recent years, decision analysis has emerged as a highly valuable technology for allowing decision makers to formulate important problems in a logical framework, incorporating factual as well as judgmental information to arrive at a consistent, realistic solution. Computers have served well as aids to calculation, display, editing, and memory functions. On the basis of previous success, organizations are beginning to develop computer-based decision-analytic aids with stand-alone capabilities for routine use by internal analysts and decision makers without outside consultation. Decision-analytic aids include different types of multi-attribute utility assessment models and traditional decision-theoretic tree models requiring probability and utility assessments. Although some stand-alone decision-analytic aids have been quite successful, others have not been utilized by their prospective users. The purpose of this report is to provide guidelines for the effective design, implementation, and evaluation of such decision aids. A framework for considering issues relevant to the design and evaluation of decision-analytic aids is presented in the introduction. This framework identifies three interfaces essential for the effective integration of decision aids into organizations. This first interface is between the decision aid and the user; here, the issue is the extent to which characteristics of the aid facilitate or hinder its usability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA096893
Entities
People
- John F. Patterson
- Jonathan J. Weiss
- Leonard Adelman
- Michael L. Donnell