A comparison of representations for discrete multi-criteria decision problems

• DOI: 10.1016/j.dss.2012.10.023
• Publication Date: 2012-10-13T00:34:24Z
• Authors: Johannes Gettinger; Elmar Kiesling; Christian Stummer; Rudolf Vetschera
• Keywords: Information Systems and Management; Heatmaps; 05 social sciences; Article; Management Information Systems; Parallel coordinates; 502052 Betriebswirtschaftslehre; Multi-criteria decision analysis; 0502 economics and business; 502052 Business administration; Visualization; Information Systems

Discrete multi-criteria decision problems with numerous Pareto-efficient solution candidates place a significant cognitive burden on the decision maker. An interactive, aspiration-based search process that iteratively progresses toward the most preferred solution can alleviate this task. In this paper, we study three ways of representing such problems in a DSS, and compare them in a laboratory experiment using subjective and objective measures of the decision process as well as solution quality and problem understanding. In addition to an immediate user evaluation, we performed a re-evaluation several weeks later. Furthermore, we consider several levels of problem complexity and user characteristics. Results indicate that different problem representations have a considerable influence on search behavior, although long-term consistency appears to remain unaffected. We also found interesting discrepancies between subjective evaluations and objective measures. Conclusions from our experiments can help designers of DSS for large multi-criteria decision problems to fit problem representations to the goals of their system and the specific task at hand.