Decision Support Systems –

Introduction, Categorization and

Development
When it comes to good decision making, relying too heavily on automatic decisions stemming
from perception or depending too much on conventions when information is bombarded on to us
from all sides can be dangerous. Sometimes, you fail to either notice or seek out crucial
information that supports decision making. This may be because of our biasness or shortage of
time, funds and other resources.

However, when it comes to organizational decision making, perhaps you wouldn’t want to take
risk. The reasons are obvious. One wrong decision can make many things go awry, including
your brand image, product lifecycle, financial standing and employer brand. In many situations,
you’re unable to apply fundamentals of economics, statistics and operations research to make
lucid choices.

So, you need some knowledge based systems that support business decision making activities.
This is where a decision support system comes into picture. It is a computer-based system that
helps you make planning, manufacturing, operations and management decisions, based on
information available. But you must remember that these systems are not the decision makers.
They just aid in decision making, by offering insights that you may be missing and providing
exact calculations. The ultimate decision maker is only you.

Say, for example, you need to devise a supply chain movement strategy. How will you do this? A
DSS analyzes the stock of inventory and production movement. Basis the data available, it
compares the outcomes of different decisions, helping you figure out what may work best
currently. It helps you establish a supply chain movement that works.

Let’s take another example. Suppose you want to optimize your sales. How will you do it?
Obviously, you’ll make some assumptions, collect data, facts and figures, generate reports,
examine patterns and finally make a decision. When you do it manually, you never know what
mistakes you’re committing. A DSS, in such a situation, can gather and analyze data and make
predictions by monitoring existing patterns. It speeds up the whole process, giving you insights
into how you can optimize your sales process.

What is a Decision Support System (DSS)?

Now that we know what a decision support system does, let’s understand what exactly it is and
how it works. A decision support system is:

 a computer-based application or program

  that compiles, combines and analyzes raw data, documents, fundamentals of social science,
applied science, mathematics and managerial science, and personal knowledge (of decision
maker/s)
 to identify problems and determine their solutions
 in order to facilitate optimal decision making

A decision support system is an interactive computer application that has complete access to
information about your organization. When used, it offers comparative figures between one
period and the next. It projects revenue figures based on assumptions related to product sales. A
DSS is smart enough to help you understand the expenses involved in and consequences
resulting from different decision alternatives.

A decision support system helps overcome the barriers to a good decision making, including:

 lack of experience
 biasness
 shortage of time
 wrong calculations
 not considering alternatives

Brief History of Decision Support System

The journey of decision support system began in the late 1960s with model-driven DSS. 1970s
saw theory development in this area and it was in mid 1980s when implementation of
spreadsheet based DSS, financial planning systems and Group DSS took place. Late 19080s and
early 1990s saw the evolution of business intelligence, data warehouses, ODSS (Organization
Decision Support System) and EIS (Executive Information System). Mid 1990s marked the
beginning of knowledge-based and web-based decision support systems. The Decision Support
Systems can be divided into following categories:

1. Model-driven DSS

A model-driven DSS was based on simple quantitative models. It used limited data and
emphasized manipulation of financial models. A model-drive DSS was used in production
planning, scheduling and management. It provided the most elementary functionality to
manufacturing concerns.

2. Data-driven DSS

Data-driven DSS emphasized the access and manipulation of data tailored to specific tasks
using general tools. While it also provided elementary functionality to businesses, it relied
heavily on time-series data. It was able to support decision making in a range of situations.

3. Communication-driven DSS
 As the name suggests, communication-driven DSS uses communication and network
technologies to facilitate decision making. The major difference between this and the
previous classes of DSS was that it supported collaboration and communication. It made
use of a variety of tools including computer-based bulletin boards, audio and video
conferencing.

4. Document-driven DSS

A document-driven DSS uses large document databases that stores documents, images,
sounds, videos and hypertext docs. It has a primary search engine tool associated for
searching the data when required. The information stored can be facts and figures, historical
data, minutes of meetings, catalogs, business correspondences, product specifications, etc.

5. Knowledge-driven DSS

Knowledge-based DSS are human-computer systems that come with a problem-solving

expertise. These combine artificial intelligence with human cognitive capacities and can
suggest actions to users. The notable point is that these systems have expertise in a
particular domain.

6. Web-based DSS

Web-based DSS is considered most sophisticated decision support system that extends its
capabilities by making use of worldwide web and internet. The evolution continues with
advancement in internet technology.

As you can see, previously, the focus was on speeding up the decision making; however, as the
concept evolved, it shifted to building interactive computer-based systems that could utilize data
and offer insights to solve ill structured problems. The definition, design, intelligence and scope
of DSS continue to evolve with time. The modern-day DSS is more intricate and equipped to
help make more complex decisions.

Decision support systems have gained immense popularity in various domains, including
military, security, medicine, manufacturing, engineering and business. These can support
decision making in situations where precision is of importance. Additionally, they provide access
to relevant knowledge by integrating various forms and sources of information, aiding human
cognitive deficiencies. While DSS employs artificial intelligence to address problems, you
shouldn’t overestimate its importance. It’s a way to get comparative figures basis some or a
combination of some formal techniques. The end decision remains with you.

Categorization/Classification of DSS
We have already seen the classification of decision support systems on the basis of technologies
used in the history section. Let’s now look at the categorization on the basis of nature of
operations:
 1. File Drawer System: As the name suggests, a file drawer decision support system provides
information useful for making a specific decision. It works like a file drawer where
different types of information are stored under different names or categories.
2. Data Analysis Systems: These decision support systems are based on a formula; and
therefore, are used to make comparative analysis. These make use of simple data processing
tools, such as inventory analysis.
3. Information Analysis System: This kind of decision support system analyzes different sets
of data to generate informational reports that can be used to assess a situation for decision
making.
4. Accounting and Financial Support System: This type of support system is based on to
keep track of cash and inventory.
5. Representation or Solver Model: This type of system performs or represents decision
making in a particular domain or for a specific problem. It calculates and compares the
outcomes of different decision paths. The decision maker can conduct a ‘what if’ analysis
and make an informed decision basis on the outcomes generated.
6. Optimization Model: This DSS is based on stimulated models, majorly providing
guidelines for operations management. The focus is on providing optimal solutions on job
scheduling, product mix and material mix decisions.
7. Suggestion System: This type of support system suggests optimal decision for a particular
situation by assisting in collecting and structuring data.

Categorization of DSS on the Basis of Inputs

 Text-Oriented DSS
 Database Oriented
 Spreadsheet Oriented
 Rule Oriented
 Solver (specific situation) Oriented
 Compound/Hybrid: This support system combines two or more structures from above to
offer multiple functionalities.

Categorization of DSS on the Basis of Support Offered

 Personal DSS
 Group DSS
 Organizational DSS

Categorization of DSS on the Basis of Type and Frequency of Decision

Making

 Institutional DSS: An institutional decision support system supports recurring decisions on

an ongoing basis. Basically, this is for programmed decisions, which are made on daily
basis. For example, establishing routine for handling technical problems, taking disciplinary
actions, unit manufacturing, a mechanic process of troubleshooting, etc.
  Ad-hoc DSS: An ad-hoc decision support system supports one kind of decision in an
unanticipated situation. The decision made is unique to a problem. This type of system is
used to support non-programmed decisions as the information available is incomplete.

Components of a Decision Support System

Like any other software system, DSS also has components and phases of development. No
matter what kind of decision support system you’re looking to develop, you must plan around
these four components:

 Input: What kind of input does it require to carry out the analysis? As mentioned earlier, it
can be rule, problem, spreadsheet, text or database oriented.
 User Knowledge/Expertise: Whether inputs will require manual analysis by the user or not
 Output: Should the outcomes be comparative or generic?
 Decisions: Whether it should be a suggestion support system? Or you just want it to
analyze the data and outcome of different actions?

Designing and Building a Decision Support System

A lot goes into designing and building a decision support system. It works as a support system
only after it is fed intelligence during its development. Developing a DSS is a complex process
and thus, takes longer. It goes repetitively through three stages - inputs, activities and outputs
during each phase of system development lifecycle. You provide an input, carry out the desired
activity and measure the output. You move further, if it produces the right output or else you
come back to the input phase and make adjustments.

A DSS framework design and development goes through these stages:

1. Intelligence

At this stage, the objective is to search for problems/situations/conditions that call for
decision.

You, as a business, are expected to identify and define the problem context for which
support is required. You must define the objectives and available resources, so that the
outcomes generated meet your expectations.

2. Design

This stage deals in analyzing all possible actions, along with the determination of system
design and system construction.

System design includes determination of components, platform, function libraries and

special languages while system structure is about deciding the prototype approach. This
stage also includes identifying hardware requirements. The development starts here.

3. Choice

Once you shortlist and analyze all possible courses of actions in step 2, now is the time to
choose the best from among them, depending upon your business objectives and results
generate.

4. Implementation
 This is the final stage where testing, evaluation, adjustments and deployment take place.
However, this is the final product but this can be tweaked, refined and upgraded basis your
activities and requirements.

When developing a custom DSS, these are important factors that must be kept in mind:

 Data management functions

 Available hardware platforms
 User interface
 Compatibility with other applications
 Cost

A decision support system helps improve your bottom line, only if it’s customized to your
specific needs and is implemented correctly.

NEXT ARTICLE ❯

Share the knowledge!










Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

Written By the Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced
Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of
this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used,
including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

Search

Decision Support Systems

 Decision Support Systems – Introduction

 Gaining Competitive Advantage with DSS
 Limitations & Disadvantages of DSS
  Analyzing Business Decision Making Process
 Designing and Developing DSS
 Designing a DSS User Interface
 Building DSS User Interface
 DSS Architecture, Networking and Security Issues
 Communications Driven and Group Decision Support System
 Building Model-Driven Decision Support System
 Building Knowledge-Driven Decision Support System and Mining Data
 Building Web-Based and Inter-Organizational Decision Support Systems
 Evaluating Decision Support System Projects

1. Home

2. Library

3. Operations

4. Decision Support Systems

5. Gaining Competitive Advantage with Decision Support Systems

Gaining Competitive Advantage with

Decision Support Systems
Over the last five decades, Decision Support Systems (DSS) have come a long way. They have
transformed from automated systems for simplifying calculations into highly sophisticated arrangements
combining hardware, software and human intelligence for handling large volumes of data, studying
different outcomes, indentifying new opportunities and implementing strategies effectively. In fact,
decision support systems seem to have overtaken human intelligence.

DSS, comes as an important tool that can quickly measure all the parameters, carry out an in-depth
analysis, elicit future trends and suggest possible courses of action. This means that a modern-day DSS
is capable of visualizing future trends in a given area, offering useful insights to businesses. And this is
how it creates a competitive advantage for a business. Moreover, the advancements in computer, mobile
and internet technologies have had a strong impact on the design of a DSS and its capabilities. Let’s take
a look at what can be expected of decision support systems in future.

Technology Trends in DSS

Decision Support Systems are constantly evolving. The new technologies, new approaches and ever-
changing business needs are responsible for their continuous evolution. In particular, technology has
made the highest impact on their development.

Experts identify key developments or trends that you may see in this class of software systems in near
future. These include:

 GIS (Geographical Information System) is going to play a crucial role in a borderless business world
in future. It’s a system designed to manage and analyze geographical data, assisting decision
makers in planning location-based services or location-based manufacturing. GIS technology also
coordinates with latitudes and altitudes of a region to determine its suitability for a plant or
manufacturing unit. And when coupled with GPS, it will allow decision makers to adjust their product
supply chain depending upon the behavior of consumers in a particular region.
 The role of OR (Operational Research) methods is going to increase in building DSS, to provide
more realistic picture in a given situation to the decision maker.
 Internet technology has a strong impact on almost everything we do. The next-gen DSS, most likely,
will meet search engine to quickly search and address a particular problem.
 A future DSS may be able to determine the near-correct shelf life of a product. It may be intelligent
enough to understand the emotional and psychological factors involved in purchase decisions.
 A future DSS may be able to utilize cognitive features, intensively using visualization, memory,
reasoning, attention and comprehension.

DSS for Strategic Decision Making

The speed at which DSS are evolving, it’s pretty clear that they are going to help companies in strategic
or unstructured decision making. The next-gen smart DSS will be more capable of helping decision
makers in making strategic decisions that affect the bottom line of a business in long run. Examples of
strategic decision include:

 Efforts required to design, manufacture and launch a new product

 How to move towards the vision of a company faster and more effectively?
 Which direction your company is headed in?
 What are the best strategies to compete and stay ahead?
 What can lead to stagnation of a business?

Decision support systems are going to be smarter with each passing year. Businesses can really look
forward to computerized systems working alongside human cognition.

Decision Support Systems to Create a Competitive Advantage

Decision making process involves:

 Utilization of resources
 Identifying the impacts of various courses of action
 Investigating the actions taken previously
 Analyzing past and present trends to forecast future trends
Simple decisions can be made immediately without much consideration. But complex decisions are given
more time and thought because they directly hit the bottom line of a business. Decision support system
carry out the decision making process in a structured manner and helps decision makers identify the best
acceptable solution for a specific problem. Let’s take an in-depth look at how a decision support system
helps businesses remain at the forefront of competition:

 Shorter Decision Making Cycle: Time plays a substantial role no matter which industry you
operate in and what level you work at. Since inception, all categories of decision support systems
are intended towards simplifying things and saving time. A DSS helps a business in quickly making
an effective decision by analyzing its pros and cons. The time taken in studying data and comparing
the possible courses of actions is significantly reduced. The decision time cycle gets shorter,
allowing businesses to act speedily in a given situation, ultimately reducing the time-to-market.
 Increased Data Accuracy: Businesses had several versions of truth before DSS came into
existence. In fact, the problem still sustains for those who haven’t started using any type of decision
support system. The reason is that analysis and interpretation of data involves human bias. Since
each evaluator thinks differently, there can never be a universal truth. A decision support system
analyzes data without any bias and presents it in its accurate form. This enhances the possibility of
improved decision making.
 Strategic Significance: Decision Support System changes the way businesses operate. An
important concept that brings to light the role of computerized decision making is “value chain
management”. A decision support system takes into account economical factors and past and
current trends to determine the costs and profits and the overall value. It provides different
outcomes or courses of actions that are economically distinct and offer different values. In short, it
notifies the decision maker of the best course of action that creates higher value at the lower cost.
Definitely, a business gains competitive advantage when it is successful and when the value
it creates surpasses the cost incurred on it.
 Direction and Nimbleness: Moving in the right direction as quickly as possible helps businesses
stay ahead of the competition. In fact, this is what keeps organizations agile and proactive. It’s
essential for them to quickly respond to market changes. Manual processing of data takes longer;
thus, defeats the whole idea of nimbleness. A decision support system, using the available
information, presents projected revenue figures and expected market changes in the times ahead.
For example, a real estate company relies on a DSS to decide how to set the prices for each
apartment so that maximum of them are sold and the profits reach the uppermost limit. In today’s
global marketplace, it’s crucial that companies move in the right direction, from the beginning.
 Reduced Cost of Decision Making: The deployment of a decision support system dramatically
reduces the cost of gathering, sorting, processing and analyzing data. Managers have a growing
awareness that automated decision support is no longer an exclusive territory. In fact, the cost of
information storage, hardware and computer and internet technology is falling considerably. This
means the cost of distributing decision-making technology even to the lower levels of hierarchy is
decreasing. The application of DSS will no longer be restricted to the certain departments or
hierarchical levels. The faster decision making at all levels of management will help businesses
stand apart from the pack.

Limitations & Disadvantages of

Decision Support Systems
Limitations of Decision Support Systems
Decision support systems have been incorporated into businesses to support human intelligence for
years. However, these systems are not perfect. Although DSSs stop a decision maker from promoting a
bias, they simply aid in decision making by offering useful insights into easily consumable bites. The idea
is to present all tangible information in the forms of graphs, pictures or text, so that you don’t overlook
facts.

Depending too much on a decision support system and placing an unusual amount of trust in it is
not a healthy sign. A lot of uncertainties are associated with DSS, such as:

 Difficulty in Quantifying All the Data: A decision support system majorly relies on quantifiable
data. Consequently, it’s difficult to analyze intangible or indefinable data. In reality, some values
cannot be very specific and defined in numbers. Even though a DSS may quantify some of these
aspects, the end result must be duly considered by the decision makers. They must use their own
judgment when making the final decision.
 Unaware of Assumptions: As a decision maker, you may not be fully aware of the assumptions
that a decision support system has considered when analyzing data for a specific problem. Making
decision without considering uncontrollable factors may prove to be dangerous. A decision maker
must realize that a computerized DSS is only a supporting tool. You must consider an unstructured
or partially structured situation in-depth and analyze the limitations and assumptions.
 System Design Failure: Decision support systems are designed to the specific needs of a decision
maker. If you don’t know what you want a DSS to do or how it should help you, it will be difficult to
design a system that fits your needs. And when you use a vague DSS, the results generated are not
what you’re looking for. Such situations may arise because of system design failure.
 Difficulty in Collecting All the Required Data: As a decision maker, you must realize that it’s not
possible to capture all of the related data mechanically. While some data is difficult to record, some
cannot be recorded at all. Therefore, the value presented by a DSS may not be 100% true.
 Lack of Technology Knowledge in Users: Although decision support systems have become much
simpler over the years, many decision makers still find it difficult to use. Lack of technological
knowledge remains an issue.

Disadvantages of Decision Support Systems

Besides limitations, decision support systems also have some disadvantages, such as:

 Information Overload: A computerized decision making system may sometimes result in

information overload. Since it analyzes all aspects of a problem, it leaves a user in a dilemma what
to consider and what not to consider. Not each bite of information is necessary in decision making.
But when it’s present, a decision maker finds it difficult to ignore information that is not a priority.
 Too much Dependence on DSS: It is true that decision support systems are integrated into
businesses to make everyday decisions faster and more easily. Some decision makers develop a
tendency to depend too much on computerized decision making and don’t want to apply their own
brains. Clearly, there is a shift in focus and decision makers may not hone their skills further
because of excessive dependence on DSS.
 Devaluation of Subjectivity: A decision support system promotes rational decision making by
suggesting alternatives basis the objectivity. While bounded rationality or restricted irrationality plays
a critical role in decision making, subjectivity cannot and should not be rejected. A DSS promotes
objectivity and relegates subjectivity, which can have serious impact on a business.
 Overemphasis on Decision Making: Clearly the focus of computerized decision making is on
considering all aspects of a problem all the time, which may not be required in many of the
situations. It is essentially important to train the users to ensure effective and optimal use of DSS.
 Cost of Development: The cost of decision making decreases once a decision support system is
installed. But development and implementation of a DSS requires a huge monetary investment.
Customization may attract higher cost. If you’re on a tight budget, you might not get a customized
DSS specific to your needs.
Resistance to Using Decision Support System
While a large number of organizations have already incorporated DSS into business decision making, a
lot are still resistant to integrate it. There may be a number of factors why they are still hesitant in
adopting a DSS. These may include:

 Fear of Learning: Almost all of us have some level of fear instilled in us. We are afraid of exploring
and learning new things. In fact, we fear of admitting that we lack technological knowledge required
to use a DSS. This attitude makes an organization resistance to use a decision making system.
 Getting Out of Comfort Zone: It’s not only the fear of learning that stops companies from adopting
a DSS. Rather it’s about getting out of comfort zone and laying hands on to new things that may
require some extra effort on their part. They don’t want to shed their age-old practices and admit
that technology, if used correctly, actually turns things in their favor.
 Fear of Implementation of New Technology: Technology can be scary for many individuals. They
are not comfortable with the idea of doing things using the latest technology. Moreover, they fear
undergoing training or participating in workshops geared towards providing functional skills. They
also are afraid of chaos occurred due to implementation of a new system.

A proper address from the managers and C-suite can help employees overcome the fear and resistance
to using new technology.

❮ PREVIOUS ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE ❯

Share the knowledge!










Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

Written By the Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG

Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter
Experts. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and
 education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to
ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

Search

Decision Support Systems

 Decision Support Systems � Introduction

 Gaining Competitive Advantage with DSS
 Limitations & Disadvantages of DSS
 Analyzing Business Decision Making Process
 Designing and Developing DSS
 Designing a DSS User Interface
 Building DSS User Interface
 DSS Architecture, Networking and Security Issues
 Communications Driven and Group Decision Support System
 Building Model-Driven Decision Support System
 Building Knowledge-Driven Decision Support System and Mining Data
 Building Web-Based and Inter-Organizational Decision Support Systems
 Evaluating Decision Support System Projects

1. Home

2. Library

3. Operations

4. Decision Support Systems

5. Analyzing Business Decision Making Process

Analyzing Business Decision Making

Process
Continuous analysis of organizational decision-making process is essential to high quality and
transparent decisions; otherwise a business runs with a prejudice: the notion that it is good at making
decision, even if in reality it is not. And probably this is why both, decision makers and decision support
system analysts try to get a profound understanding of organization-wide decision-making, in order to
build highly customized DSS software.

This means a lot goes into planning, designing and implementing a decision support system. Decision
making is important as well as complex. But its scope is broad. It’s not restricted to a certain level of
hierarchy; rather employees at all levels across all departments make decisions, depending upon the
roles they play and situations they get face-to-face with.

Some decisions are related to evaluating investments, allocating resources or assessing mergers and
acquisition proposals while some are about introducing new products, studying their shelf life or
enhancing manufacturing efficiency. There are also day-to-day decisions that are valid for a point of time.
Typically, more objective decisions are made at lower levels of hierarchy, which can be quantified. Higher
levels of hierarchy deal with unstructured or ill-structured decisions, which are subjective in nature. While
objective decisions may not require creativity, subjective decisions do.

Like decisions made in each department at each level are different, similarly a decision support system
analyst must take into consideration the type of decisions and distinguished factors influencing decision-
making before going to the drawing board and designing the architecture. Understanding the context in
which decisions are made is an important consideration in building a decision support system.
Let us take a closer look at the factors that a DSS analyst should take into account:

Types of Managerial Decisions

As said earlier, decisions are made at all levels of hierarchy. Therefore, it’s important to understand what
type of decisions a decision support system is going to support.

 Strategic decisions: As strategic decisions are not related to general functioning of an

organization, these are non-repetitive in nature and require a lot of time to be arrived at. Generally
taken by the highest level of hierarchy, strategic decisions involve careful analysis of the situation
and consequences. Some examples of strategic decisions: evaluation of an investment proposal,
decisions related to mergers and acquisitions, resource allocations, fund raising, etc.
 Operational decisions: These types of decisions fall under two categories. Decisions pertaining to
plant location, production volume, distribution channel and policies are taken by top management.
These are long term decisions that directly impact the functioning of a business. The second
category of decisions is related to day-to-day functioning, which are taken by middle and lower level
managers.
 Managerial decisions: These decisions pertain to resource allocation, talent management,
research and development, new product introduction, withdraw or revamp old products. These are
combined decisions taken by top and upper middle management.

Each type of decision requires different level of support. A decision support analyst needs to analyze �
what types of decisions need to be supported; who are involved in decision making process; and whether
alternative courses of actions are required to be shown.

Nature of Problems
Decision making may be simple or complex depending upon the nature of the problem. It may be
repetitive or non-repetitive, structured or unstructured. And each problem type requires different
approach, problem-solving technique and subjectivity. Let’s understand this in detail:

 Recurring/ Repetitive problems: Recurring decisions are taken very frequently and do not require
in-depth analysis and evaluation every time. Employees at the lower level of hierarchy are
empowered to take these decisions on their own because a standard procedure is followed to tackle
such problems.
  Non-repetitive problems: Non repetitive decisions are taken once in a while. Non-repetitive
problems may or may not be difficult to tackle but they are not regular. Difficult problems are taken
care of by the upper levels of management while the non-complex ones are solved by lower
management.
 Structured problems: Structured problems can be quantified and therefore, can be solved using
computational techniques. Structured problems may occur frequently as these are generic in nature.
 Non-structured problems: Non-structured problems are hard to quantify, making it difficult to
decide the tangible objectives that a solution should achieve. These do not occur frequently.
Although the decisions can be automated, but a thorough involvement of decision makers is also
required. These decisions typically require creativity and human cognizance along with automated
solution.

The architecture of a decision support system is developed once a DSS analyst understands what kinds
of problems are likely to be solved. A decision support system is generally used when a problem is ill-
structured, complex and vague and the amount of information to be considered is huge.

Involvement of People
A decision support system analyst must take into account the people involved in a decision making
process. There is a set of decisions that are taken by a group of individuals. In such a case, a DSS must
enable the people involved to connect, communicate and share files, data and views with each other. A
simple DSS would do, if the decision maker is an individual.

Decision Environment
Numerous factors have a direct impact on decision-making. Managers can help decision support system
analysts in understanding these internal and external factors that impact decision-making. External
factors may include: technology, political environment, suppliers, distributors, competitors and customers.
Internal factors include people (their perceptions, capabilities, frequency of decision making, type of
decisions they take), department (where a DSS is to be implemented) and organizational factors
(procedures and processes, budget, change management).

Decision-making Context
A decision-making context defines the circumstances in which a problem is rooted. It also defines the
assumptions around the problem, associated risks, level of uncertainty and expected return. A decision
support system analyst must take decision-making context into account because it will help him:

 Identify the potential for decision support: If a computerized or automated decision making
system will work or not. If yes, what problems it will likely to solve.
 Determine the scope of decision support: At what level support is required. For generic
problems, a DSS can offer complete support, but for an ill-structured problem, it can only show all
possible alternative courses of actions with their pros and cons, leaving the end decision to the user.

Depending upon a decision-making context, a DSS analyst can must consider goals to be achieved,
examine relevant alternatives, draw a process to rank alternatives, predict decision environment (internal
and external factors affecting decisions) and identify the characteristics of decision-makers.

Decision Making Process

Previously, decision making was a purely cognitive process to select the most feasible course of action
from among the available alternatives. However, this was when decision support systems didn’t exist.
Nowadays, a decision-making process is supported extensively by automated software systems.
However, if we carefully look at the sequence or stages of decision making, we’ll barely find any
deviation.

Decision making certainly is more complex today, but it is supported by computerized systems. A decision
making process involves following step:

1. Defining the Problem

Defining a problem is important. It provides decision makers with a base, on which they can build
assumptions, collect and analyze data and evaluate alternatives. Defining a problem begins with
recognizing that a problem exists. A problem exists when:

 There’s a difference between expected and delivered

 There’s a divergence from the customary
 An action taken is not justifiable

A DSS defines the problem and complexities involved by comparing deliverables and delivered.

2. Identifying Decision Maker

Depending upon the nature of the problem, it is sent to the right person. An ill-structured problem
will go to top management; a complicated problem to the managers and recurring will be sent to the
employee at a lower hierarchical level.

3. Gathering Information

Once a problem is sent to the right person, the concerned person can begin with collecting data and
identifying the factors influencing the situation. Without DSS, you will take too long a time to collect
and analyze data. A DSS can process tons of data in just few seconds.

4. Evaluating Alternatives and Deciding

This stage involves sifting through all possible courses of action and determining the most suitable
from among them, by assessing the pros and cons of each alternative. A DSS helps in justifying a
particular choice.

5. Implementation and Follow-up

Once the decision is taken, it’s time to walk the walk. It’s time to implement. Again implementation
needs whole lot of planning. Monitoring is also essential to determine if a particular decision is
helpful in achieving the objectives. It may require some adjustments or may lead to a new problem.
If latter is the case, you may have to repeat the entire process.

Good Decision Making

A good decision is the one that is free of biases and prejudices, and resolves the identified problem while
capturing the maximum value. It is something that takes you towards your goal, given the ambiguities and
intricacies of the real world.

Characteristics of a good decision:

 Longer shelf life

  Doesn’t raise a conflict of interest
 Takes into account internal and external factors
 Helps decision maker get what they’re seeking

A meticulously designed decision support system aids in good decision making. If a decision maker uses
a standard DSS, the results obtained are distorted, which defeats the whole purpose of using it.

Redesigning Decision Making Process

A decision making process is a group of various interrelated activities. Its sole aim is to create value for
the organization. In today’s extremely complex business environment, it’s important to make faster, more
flexible, transparent and high quality decisions. Redesigning/reengineering a decision-making process
may help organizations become agile and nimble and significantly reduce the time taken in making a
decision.

A decision making process can be reengineered by:

 Envisaging new work strategies

 Dropping iterative processes
 Encouraging full-scale recreation
 Fostering more creativity in decision making rather than automating the whole process

A decision support system should be developed in such a way that it promotes creativity rather than
automation. It must propel a decision maker to think and come up with an out-of-the-box idea. Instead of
being efficient, it must be responsive.

❮ PREVIOUS ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE ❯

Share the knowledge!










Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

 Written By the Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG
Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter
Experts. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and
education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to
ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

Search

Decision Support Systems

 Decision Support Systems � Introduction

 Gaining Competitive Advantage with DSS
 Limitations & Disadvantages of DSS
 Analyzing Business Decision Making Process
 Designing and Developing DSS
 Designing a DSS User Interface
 Building DSS User Interface
 DSS Architecture, Networking and Security Issues
 Communications Driven and Group Decision Support System
 Building Model-Driven Decision Support System
 Building Knowledge-Driven Decision Support System and Mining Data
 Building Web-Based and Inter-Organizational Decision Support Systems
 Evaluating Decision Support System Projects

1. Home

2. Library

3. Operations

4. Decision Support Systems

5. Designing and Developing Decision Support Systems

Designing and Developing Decision

Support Systems
The business intelligence tools or decision support systems aid decision making in an organization. An
effective DSS provides you with unbiased data analysis, real time monitoring and rich reporting,
supporting you make an informed decision in the least possible time span. A meticulously designed DSS
makes use of analytical models, various statistical and econometric tools and of course, human
intelligence and insights to support decision making.

This proves the importance of technology, methodology and approach behind designing and development
of a decision support system. As a decision maker, you need to be extremely careful in selecting the DSS
technology and developmental methodology. You need to get the basics right, in order to get a reliable
tool to support diverse information and decision-making needs.

Because designing and development of a decision support system is a complex process, you may
face a number of issues, such as:

1. Mismatch between the perspectives of the programmer and decision maker

Decision makers, on one hand, have very little knowledge about what it takes to design and develop
a decision support system. On the other hand, a programmer or developer may not have a fair idea
of how complex business decision making has become in today’s highly turbulent times. Technology
selection may seem puzzling and ambiguous to decision maker while the preferences, needs and
expectations of a decision maker may not fit the process of system design and development. This
mismatch between perspectives leads to complexities. But at the same time, this increases the
likelihood of creation of an effective and apt DSS.

2. Identification of specific requirements

Most of the times, even decision makers have no clue about what to expect from a decision support
system. This is especially the case when managers need a tool to aid in resolving ill-structured or
unstructured problems. It is easy to decide what functionality a DSS must possess when problems
are routine and structured. Managers can seek help from their team members and conduct
brainstorming sessions, in order to chart out the functions and benefits of a decision support
system.

3. Technology selection

In today’s highly competitive business environment, you need an interactive and responsive
decision support system that maximizes your performance. In such a scenario, the selection of
technology plays a crucial role. However, it’s not always necessary to use the latest version of a
particular platform. It completely depends on the objectives you wish to achieve. However, a DSS
development company may push you for the latest technology, which will certainly add to your
expenses. The rule of thumb is to ask for price quotes from different companies.

4. Approach to software design and development

As said earlier, there is no standard approach or methodology to design the best decision support
system. There are three main approaches to system design and development: 1) the traditional
 system development life cycle (SDLC) approach; 2) rapid prototyping and 3) end-user approach.
You may want to choose a methodology that ensures that the final product accomplishes your
objectives. But each approach has its pros and cons, making it difficult to choose the best one.

Most of these issues can be resolved by:

 Identifying clear agendas

 Brainstorming with team members
 Communicating the expectations clearly to the programmers
 Educating yourself about various technologies used in DSS development
 Trying to reach at a common platform with the developers

Pre-Design Diagnosis and Feasibility Study

How to secure the right DSS developmental methodology? Well, a pre-design diagnosis of a decision
making process and feasibility study of a DSS concept can help you gain clarity. Diagnosis and feasibility
testing are two different processes but are intertwined. Depending upon how decisions are made in an
organization, a programmer carries out the feasibility testing of the idea on which a DSS is to be
developed.

Diagnosis of a Decision Making Process

A diagnostic study of decision making process in an organization helps gain clarity on:

 Problem identification process

 Data collection techniques
 How decisions are made
 Who all are involved in decision making
 Norms pertaining to decision making in an organization

The study involves:

 Defining the types of decisions

 Charting out the formal decision making process basis observation
 Identifying the primary role of decision maker
 Interviewing decision makers
 Assessing the effectiveness of data collection techniques
 Evaluating the performance of decision making process
 Need for computerized aid to support these decisions
 Identifying what needs to be improved
 Determining what will remain unchanged

A diagnostic study of decision making proves to be very useful to assess the overall process. It
helps in redesigning the decision making process and charting out the objectives, functionality and
expectations from a decision support system.

Feasibility Study
Testing the decisional, economical and technological feasibility of a proposed decision support system
succeeds the diagnostic study of a decision making process. The feasibility study aims to:
  Uncover viability or achievability of a proposed DSS
 Discover the target users of a proposed decision support system software
 Identify opportunities and threats to a proposed DSS
 Determine if a proposed DSS with desired features falls within the budget of the organization
 Determine the technologies that can possible be used to develop a DSS
 Measure how well a proposed DSS will be able to solve problems
 Identify time available to build the system
 Uncover the amount of resources required to build the system
 Identify the limitations and risks associated with the proposed system

Both decision maker and programmer attain clarity on whether to go ahead with the system development
or not, once these factors are assessed.

Choosing a System Development Approach

As mentioned above, choosing a system development approach is an underlying issue. This is because
there is no single process that can be termed as �best’. What development approach you choose
depends upon the results of feasibility study and a mutual agreement between decision maker and
programmer.

However, you will need to choose a developmental approach only when you decide to make a custom
decision support system. If you decide to buy a packaged solution, you simply consult the expert, choose
a suitable software system and implement it. It is less expensive than making a support system.

But if you’re not convinced with the functionality of a packaged solution, it’s ideal to make it and equip
with all the functions and features that you need. Here are three approaches to system development that
you may want to learn about:

1. SDLC - System Development Life Cycle Approach

The formal SDLC is a sequential process which begins with identifying the system objectives (needs
of end users) and goes through various stages, including

 System analysis (technical components required)

 System design (architecture)
 Coding (programming)
 Testing (errors and bug fixing)
 Implementation (execution in the organization)
 Use (end users employing DSS)
 Evaluation (verification of functions and capabilities)
 Modification (adjustments required)

It’s the most commonly used and most rigid system development approach. In complex situations, it
becomes difficult to use this approach, as the requirements of users are constantly changing. It
doesn’t promote recurring development and testing.

2. Rapid Prototyping Approach

As the name suggests, rapid prototyping is a method that promotes faster system development.
Moreover, it’s combined effort of decision maker and analyst. A DSS analyst works closely with a
decision maker, to chart out specific requirements. Though a decision maker uses general terms,
the analyst uses DMS (database management system) to support rapid development of the
application.
 Rapid prototyping goes through:

 Identifying objectives/ user requirements

 Developing the first model
 Evaluating the first model, identifying adjustments required and modification
 Testing the developed DSS. Go back to evaluation and modification, if needed
 Implementing

As the communication lines are always open, evaluation and modification happen at a rapid pace.
This is why it’s considered a better approach than SDLC in complex situations.

3. End-User DSS Development Approach

End-user DSS development approach promotes the designing and development of a software
system depending upon the specific or individual needs of a decision maker. It’s like customizing
your laptop. As managers make extensive use of various applications, they may want a system that
integrates all the functions that they need.

The plus side of this approach is that a decision maker makes his DSS on his own. The negative
side is that he or she may end up choosing the inappropriate software. Moreover, they may make
mistakes unknowingly when developing a decision support system because of the lack of technical
expertise. This approach is very rarely used.

DSS Project Management

Project management is an additional overhead. It’s a common belief. No one understands the importance
of project management until they get punched in their face. The entire process, beginning from DSS
conceptualization, development and implementation needs to be closely overseen, in order to:

 Reduce chaos
 Manage risk
 Supervise project development
 Administer quality
 Manage smooth integration of newly developed DSS with business processes
 Identify training requirements of staff
 Manage change

Projects are chaotic in nature. And when technology is involved, chaos quadruples. The process
becomes further complex when �change’ is included. Generally, employees resist change. They fear
technology. As a business, you must hire a DSS project manager, in order to carry out the whole process
as smoothly and hassle-free as possible.

DSS Project Participation

A decision support system development is a comprehensive project that requires diverse skills and
capabilities. Therefore, it’s essential to bring together the right talent from the fields of technology,
management, finance, project management, analytics and potential users and ensure active participation
of team members.

Remember you can’t ride on the expertise of programmers alone. It’s a combined effort and requires
active participation of everyone involved in project development. The team typically includes sponsor,
financial executives, DSS analyst, programmer, technical support professional and decision-maker/end-
user.

❮ PREVIOUS ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE ❯

Share the knowledge!










Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

Written By the Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG

Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter
Experts. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and
education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to
ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

Search

Decision Support Systems

 Decision Support Systems � Introduction

 Gaining Competitive Advantage with DSS
 Limitations & Disadvantages of DSS
 Analyzing Business Decision Making Process
 Designing and Developing DSS
 Designing a DSS User Interface
 Building DSS User Interface
 DSS Architecture, Networking and Security Issues
 Communications Driven and Group Decision Support System
 Building Model-Driven Decision Support System
  Building Knowledge-Driven Decision Support System and Mining Data
 Building Web-Based and Inter-Organizational Decision Support Systems
 Evaluating Decision Support System Projects

1. Home

2. Library

3. Operations

4. Decision Support Systems

5. Designing a Decision Support System User Interface

Designing a Decision Support System

User Interface
The effectiveness of a computerized system or a software platform depends on its user interface design.
Be it a routine software program or a high-end decision support system, user’s interaction with the system
should be as simple, effective and hassle-free as possible.

It’s not a mystery that great decision support systems have brilliant user interface designs. They are
engineered to provide superior user experience. Designing a user interface involves attaining complete
understanding of user needs and the way they make decisions.

So, the questions arise - what goes into their planning and how to design a good user face? We will come
to this. However, before we get into the details of why and how parts, let’s first try to understand what
user interface actually means.

What is User Interface ?

If we look at the literal meaning of the word, interface means the ‘crossing point’ or ‘border’. And in
computer science, interface means that part of a computerized system that allows its users to interact
with it. It is what users see and use. User interface is important yet it facilitates interaction between the
user and the software system without drawing much attention to itself. It is that hidden aspect of a
computer program that supports its usability.

User interface may include:

  Commands
 Set of menus
 Graphics
 Icons
 Guidelines
 Acoustics
 Tactile
 Hardware
 Any other presentation

Features of Good User Interface

The most important features of user interface are that it:

 Influences how users interact with the decision support system

 Balances the technicality (functionality of the system) and mentality (user’s state of mind)
 Provides users a picture-oriented (visual) way to interact with the system
 Creates flawless communication and interaction between the user and the decision support system
 Reduces errors, increases speed, supports ‘good decision making’
 Logical and intuitive at the same time

The quality of a decision support system very much depends on its user interface. This is because it is
what a user sees, feels, senses and uses to interact with the software system. Therefore, right from
the screen layout to color, style, symmetry, lines, density, icons, pictures, symbols, commands,
input and output display play a decisive role.

To get things right, DSS analysts and end users need to work together, and cite and resolve potential
issues that may arise while using a decision support system.

User Interface Styles

As we know, user interface is the space where human-machine interactions take place. This decides how
user enters the information and how system presents the outcome. There are different ways to interact
with computerized decision making systems.

However, which user interface style is to be used needs to be decided before the development process
begins. There are no hard and fast rules about which the best user interface style is. A Decision Support
System may use one interface style or a combination of two or more styles.

A DSS designer can provide several control sequences to manage or run a software program, depending
upon user needs. There are six dominant user interface styles that can be used:

1. Command-Line Interface: As the name suggests, the command-line interface made dominant use
of commands to set user interaction with the software system. A user would enter the command,
such as “run” and the system would execute it. The operating systems used were MS-DOS, UNIX
and LINUX. This interface would require a user to enter the command, in order to tell the machine
what to do. Though such interfaces were powerful, the user would actually have to learn the
commands to make a system work for them, which was definitely restricting.
2. Menu Interface: The menu interface offers users a list of functions in the form of choices. The drop-
down menu makes it easier for them to select a function that needs to be performed. The best part
is the users don’t have to learn the commands to make use of software system.

However, menus are appropriate for simple systems. As complexity increases, the users require
several sets of menus to choose from. Even the items in the menu can have sub menus. A good
example of such operating system is Windows. But when it comes to building DSS using menu
interface, it takes huge time and resources to design and develop the interface and the software
itself in the long run.
3. Graphical Interface: It is an interface system that allows users to give commands through visible
objects. You either point or touch the images, icons or symbols to perform an action. The graphic
user interface focuses more on multimedia rather than text.
4. Question-and-Answer Interface: Such kind of interface allows machine to ask questions and user
to enter answers to the questions. It turns into a dialogue when user continues to answer questions
asked by the system. This type of interface is an effort to induce human-to-human interaction
through a system. However, the major challenge occurs when the answers fed by the user are
unstructured because a computer doesn’t understand unstructured responses.

5. Voice User Interface: As the name suggests, it makes human-machine interaction possible
through speech. A human voice is required to control the machine or to make it perform an action.
Voice user interfaces have now become commonplace. These are eyes-free and hands-free
interfaces that perform action by recognizing the speech.
 6. Touch User Interface: This is the most popular and most recent type of user interface. It relies
upon the sense of touch and directs the system to perform the chosen action when a user touches a
particular visual. In digital environment, it is used alongside voice and graphics user interfaces.

Designing User Interface

An effective user interface is essential for any type of information system. Its design largely determines
whether the software system will be used or not. Typically, the focus is always on the expertise of the
analysts and designers, which is not the right approach. Although the technical expertise is crucial, the
specific needs of the end user need to be understood, accessed and evaluated. With this, the totality of
experience working on the system and using it needs to be counted. The right user interface design
approach is the first step in developing an efficient decision support system.

ROMC Design Approach - Representation - Operation - Memory Aid -

Control Aid
ROMC is an organized approach to design specialized decision support systems, more precisely their
user interfaces. It’s a systematic move towards designing the representation, operation, memory and
control mechanisms of a large decision support system.

Suggested by Ralph Sprague and Eric Carlson in 1982, it focuses on the analysis of the above mentioned
four important elements of a user interface. The approach helps identify the essential competencies of a
computerized system. Not only is this approach suitable for developing user interface designs but this can
also be used for creating screen designs.

 Representation

Representation is about presenting information or results for that matter, in a structured way. All
decision making activities in an organization take place in a certain environment or context. The
representation, in tandem with this context, provides a tangible conceptualization to communicate
information to the decision maker or user of the system about the situation.

The representation provides a base to the decision makers backed by concrete information, helping
them interpret DSS outputs. The representation can be in the form of a table, graph, map, chart or a
text document and each value on a map or a table communicates decision making context.

 Operation
 This stage in user interface design focuses on specific tasks performed by/with a decision support
system. The operation can involve one activity or many, depending upon the specific needs of the
decision maker. A DSS may be used to process data, track market trends, carry analytics or
suggest alternatives or perform all the functions.

 Memory Aid

How will a DSS operate? On what basis will it produce outputs? What is it going to represent? It
must have an access to data to synthesize and analyze. A data warehouse is its memory aid and so
for decision makers. So, it must give users a link to data warehouse aid their memory. In addition, it
may provide them with links and command shortcuts or sequences to help users control a decision
support system.

 Control Aid

Control aid is provided to users, so that they can effectively use representations, operations and
memory aids. It allows them to edit, redo, undo, save, view, delete any information or representation
or the task performed by/with a DSS. They make it easier for the user to interact with and control a
decision support system. The commands, however, depends upon the type of user interface.

A user interface design is made up of all these elements and a lot of brainstorming and planning go into it.
Designing a user design is not a technical process; rather it is a collective effort of technical and decision
making experts. They need to work closely, in order to design a great user interface. This increases the
likelihood that a system will be used post development and implementation.

❮ PREVIOUS ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE ❯

Share the knowledge!










Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

 Written By the Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG
Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter
Experts. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and
education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to
ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

Search

Decision Support Systems

 Decision Support Systems � Introduction

 Gaining Competitive Advantage with DSS
 Limitations & Disadvantages of DSS
 Analyzing Business Decision Making Process
 Designing and Developing DSS
 Designing a DSS User Interface
 Building DSS User Interface
 DSS Architecture, Networking and Security Issues
 Communications Driven and Group Decision Support System
 Building Model-Driven Decision Support System
 Building Knowledge-Driven Decision Support System and Mining Data
 Building Web-Based and Inter-Organizational Decision Support Systems
 Evaluating Decision Support System Projects

1. Home

2. Library

3. Operations

4. Decision Support Systems

5. Building Decision Support System User Interface

Building Decision Support System

User Interface
Decision support systems are now widely used in organizations and military across the world, helping
decision makers apply analytical, statistical and scientific techniques to decision making. In recent years,
there popularity has significantly increased because of their ability to execute, interpret, analyze and
suggest.

Decision support systems can be used in the areas of economic forecasting, risk management,
manufacturing automation, supply chain management, healthcare, data warehousing, demographic
trends and forecasts, resource allocation, etc. The growing popularity of decision support systems is due
to their capability to help decision makers balancing conflicting objectives and allocating scarce resources
optimally.

Though decision support systems are known to make the whole process of decision making easier and
speedier, their own development is a complex and time consuming process. Building a DSS user
interface requires a very high level of expertise in technology, programming, decision making, project
management, and user experience and user interface design. Plus, it requires a close and unswerving
collaboration of the analysts, programmers, decision makers, finance specialists and end users.

Building DSS User Interface

In the previous article, we learnt about ROMC approach to user interface design. Since each DSS has a
different purpose, defining representations, operations, and memory and control aids are of absolute
importance before beginning to develop a DSS user interface. The usefulness, validity and applicability of
a DSS depend on the design elements of a user interface.

A good user interface design must ensure that:

 The screen design is aesthetically pleasing

 The layouts are symmetrical
 The arrangement of options/menus is appropriate
 The screen layout is easy to understand and use
 The design doesn’t need to be artistic but it should certainly be visually pleasing
 Working on it is easy and enjoyable

Therefore, a Decision Support System user interface developer must:

 Get started with all significant information in hand. As a DSS is customized to the needs of end
users, it’s not a previously defined package. This means that a DSS user interface developer must
steer clear of assumptions and postulations. Rather he or she must rely on neat specifications.
 Be able to respond quickly to the needs of end users. A decision support system needs to be
modified or evolved quickly as per the directions of the decision maker who is going to use the
system. The designing of user interface should be such that it facilitates changes whenever
required.
 Take into account the idiosyncrasies of the problems to be solved. Each DSS is developed to solve
particular types of problems. Therefore, a user interface developer is expected to understand the
peculiarity of the problems to be solved using DSS. And on the basis of this, he or she must be able
 to determine what kind of input a user must feed and how and what kind of output the system must
produce.
 Pay attention to the order of priority while designing the software. This typically includes four steps.
i) Design user interface, focusing on the dialogue that takes place between user and machine. ii)
Design operations and commands that will be used to carry out the operations. iii) Define what
happens when the user gives a command. iv) Work backward and create the program.

While a DSS user interface developer works on building the software, the focus must constantly be on -
who the user is; what the user will do with the system; what type of decisions the user makes; and what
aid the user expects from a DSS.

Comments on Design Elements

As user interface development takes place, the developer must keep a tab on the way information will be
presented to the end user. Design elements play a crucial role in forming user experience. Here are few
tips that should be kept in mind:

 Visual presentation of data is important, as it helps users visualize the relationship between two or
more elements.
 Graphs, charts, hierarchy, diagrams, flowcharts and maps should be used in reports, performance
sheets, planning, designing and allocation.
 Augment the use of color in a way that it enhances the overall appearance of the system.
 Allow users to have some control of the functions, such as color adjustments, themes, home screen,
wall papers, menu style, patterns, etc.
 Build guidance mechanisms, in order to make it easy for users to manipulate the system.
 Offer process guidance help, just in case the user feels stuck.
 The software system should be responsive enough to offer suggestions to the users, helping them
optimally use the system.

The bottom line is that a DSS user interface developer should make it a point that the system provides
decision makers with enough discretion and prudence. The system must let them choose the way they
want to use it.

Guidelines for Dialogue and User Interface design

The design of a computerized system determines whether it will be used or not. Over the period of time,
the researchers, DSS analysts and designers and decision makers have gather several important points
that may be considered as principles or guidelines for dialogue and user interface design.

Although the user interface is central to the system development but the totality of experience also plays
an important role. You must be cautious about user experience and ensure that the decision maker or the
end user attains utmost satisfaction.

Here are 10 user interface design rules that you must follow when designing one:

1. Consistency: A decision support system software must look, feel and act similar throughout. The
color combination, theme, menu display and other visuals must be consistent. It makes a DSS look
organized and well thought out.
2. Reduce Information Overload: The main objective of a decision support system is to reduce
information overload and simplify things to the extent possible. Probably, this is why most
organizations use computerized systems to aid decision making. The human memory is subject to a
limitation when it comes to information processing and learning commands. Where appropriate, the
 design should be minimized and commands should be displayed and the sequence of actions
should be shortened.
3. Create Aesthetically Appealing yet Minimalist Interface Design: The interface should be
appealing; however, you need not show your artistic side. It must be balanced, soothing, interactive
and responsive.
4. Informative Feedback: Users look forward to informative feedback about the command they have
given or action they have performed. Minor commands may offer modest feedback, whereas
concrete feedback should be offered for infrequent actions.
5. Design Interactions: Each interaction should have a sequence or an order � beginning, middle
and end. This keeps a track on the flow of the dialogue.
6. Anticipate Errors: You need to anticipate possible errors that a user can make when using the
decision support system. Think of simple and comprehendible ways to detect errors and to guide
users on what to do now. At some places, the system must make users aware of what errors they
are going to make by pressing a command.
7. Permit Action Reversal: Include ‘undo’. Sometimes, users make mistakes unintentionally. But
inability to reverse the action may build anxiety in users. Give them the flexibility to undo what they
did, whether knowingly or unknowingly. It gives them the confidence to try out new things.
8. Give Users Control of the System: People using a decision support system want to control each
aspect of the system. Inability to control makes them anxious and unconfident. Give them control of
the system and let them explore it as much as they want.
9. Provide Accelerators: As decision makers use a DSS more frequently, they don’t want to offer
same information each time they log into the system. Provide them with accelerators to shorten the
interactions and increase the pace. Offer abbreviations and automation commands that accelerate
the entire process of decision making.
10. Provide Documentation and Help Capabilities: A DSS although is not incomplete if it doesn’t
provide documentation capabilities but to users it may seem incomplete. Such capabilities are
desirable because most users want to document major points or something that catches their
attention.

An effective user interface makes a system easier to use. It eliminates anxiety and fear of technology and
promotes its use. A decision support designer must keep all the above guidelines when designing a user
interface.

Factors Influencing User Interface Design Success

There are a lot of factors that influence the success of a user interface design. A DSS designer is
expected to recognize and consider these factors when designing a user interface for a decision support
system. This is done to:

 Eliminate/reduce the fatigue of working on a system

 Reduce the learning time of DSS users
 Reduce the chances of errors made by end users
 Keep users motivated to use the decision support system
 Offer users the ease to recall

So, here are the factors influencing UI design success. Take a look:

 Execution Time: Why does a decision maker use computerized system to aid decision making?
Obviously, to reduce execution time! As a DSS designer, you must try reduce the execution time for
a command given and action performed. Maximize the pace of execution to minimize the wastage of
time.
  Versatility: A decision support system must be resourceful enough to perform the entire range of
tasks that a decision maker needs to perform when making a decision using DSS. Moreover, it
should be flexible enough to integrate new tasks whenever needs arises.
 Adaptability: A decision support system should be smart enough to adapt according to the most
prominent habits of its user. This means it needs to be self-tailoring or customizing in itself. It may
seem impractical, but in reality it is not. Rather this is what is expected from a smart decision
making system.
 Learning Time: A DSS user interface should be simple enough to reduce the learning time of its
users, so that they can use it to its full capacity as soon as possible.
 Uniformity of Command: As said earlier, a DSS user interface must have a uniform theme
throughout. It should offer the same look and feel and command throughout.
 Quality of Help: When a decision maker is user a DSS built by you, he or she expects complete on
and off line support from you. The success of a DSS depends upon the quality of support offered.
Recognize what user may do on/with the DSS and offer self-help manuals both online and offline.
 Memory Load: A person has limitations when it comes to remembering numbers. The idea is not to
bombard the user with too many statistical or numerical data interpretations at one time. A good UI
design takes the memory load off the user mind.
 Ease of Recall: If a user comes back to DSS after long, it must help him/her recall what was done
previously. It helps them achieve the same pace in a shortened time.
 Fatigue: Mental fatigue occurs because of the complexity of the design. Keep things simple and
keep the commands visual so that the user doesn’t need to remember anything.
 Errors: Anticipate errors that a user may perform when using a decision support system. Provide
them the control to reverse the action and help to guide them what to do next.

Designing decision support system user interface is the toughest part of the development cycle. It’s the
most important element as it establishes the communication between the machine and the human. The
use of visual elements and simple screen designs can add a great deal to the success of a DSS.

❮ PREVIOUS ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE ❯

Share the knowledge!










Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

 Written By the Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG
Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter
Experts. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and
education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to
ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

Search

Decision Support Systems

 Decision Support Systems � Introduction

 Gaining Competitive Advantage with DSS
 Limitations & Disadvantages of DSS
 Analyzing Business Decision Making Process
 Designing and Developing DSS
 Designing a DSS User Interface
 Building DSS User Interface
 DSS Architecture, Networking and Security Issues
 Communications Driven and Group Decision Support System
 Building Model-Driven Decision Support System
 Building Knowledge-Driven Decision Support System and Mining Data
 Building Web-Based and Inter-Organizational Decision Support Systems
 Evaluating Decision Support System Projects