A structured methodology for the analysis and design of decision support systems

The development of decision support systems (DSS) involves fairly intricate analysis and design activities. The quality of process and content support provided to these activities has direct impact on the value delivered by the DSS to users. Unfortunately, unlike the case of transaction-based office systems, formal methodologies for DSS analysis and design are lacking in practice. Based on DSS development experience and a synthesis of extant research, we present a methodology that is comprehensive in addressing analysis and design issues in DSS development. The methodology offers a high level of generality across decision making domains. The utility of the methodology has been demonstrated in several industrial projects.