Q&A session overview:
The question and answer session of the DBD Open Workshop meeting generated stimulating conversations regarding numerous decision-analysis related topics. The panel members along with the attendees participated actively in the discussions. An overview of the major questions posed and following discussions are outlined below.
How do you know if you've made the right or best decision?
- If it makes you or your company the most money
- The Decision you make is a direct result of the decision analysis method chosen
- Use of utility assessment
- What is the difference between the right decision and a good decision
- All you can know is if the decision made is better of worse than previous decisions
- You cannot know due to uncertainty in the decision-making/analysis process
- Mathematical validations
Does your decision need to result in an "optimal" solution or an "improved" solution?
How do you handle the situation when you are making a decision on only bad choices?
- Find new choices or alternatives
- The available choices rely on problem formulation
- Decision analysis cannot improve a bad alternative
How can information gained through decision analysis be used, even if the analysis is unsuccessful, to aid in the design process?
- This depends on decision-maker's knowledge of product as well as related experience
There are issues with implementing decision support tools with people lacking background in design methodology.
- People want exact, concrete and correct answers. If these are not provided, they believe that the methods are not worth using and they go back to their old ways.
- Decisions are made to overcome a lack of information
How are is the lack of information regarding physical aspects of design to be overcome?
- Decision analysis relies on information regarding the system
- The application of decision analysis is unique to all situations
Who is responsible for evaluating available criteria and structuring the decision analysis problem?
- Important to cascade information to the involved decision-makers/designers
- This is typically an upper-management problem - setting design criteria
Other discussion topics included:
- DBD must be applied not only to product design, but also to the process of design.
- Decision synthesis vs. Decision making
- The effects of time requirements on the decision analysis problem
- Effective implementation of decision support tools
- The use of decisions as milestones throughout the design process
- Inclusion of more case-studies in the presentations and discussion
- The inclusion of opinions from communication and psychology experts
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