Logical Decisions - Classweb

continues aggregating lower level goals and measures until a
utility for the overall (highest level) goal has been computed.
LDW provides several methods for assessing weights.
The easiest method uses a simple ordering of the measures'
relative importances to compute a reasonable set of weights.
Other methods have you enter ratios of the measures' relative
weights. The "Smart" method and the "Analytic Hierarchy
Process" are examples of this type of approach.
The most sophisticated method is to assess what are called
tradeoffs. In the tradeoff method, LDW helps you define pairs of
simple alternatives that you prefer equally. Then LDW computes
weights that will give the equally preferred alternatives in each
tradeoff pair equal utility scores.
Interactions. In addition to helping you assess the weights for
the measures and goals, LDW also lets you define interactions
between a goal's members. Interactions are an advanced LDW
feature that you can use when the utility for a goal should not be a
simple weighted average of the utilities of the goal's members.
Preference assessment menus. The options for assessing
common units and weights can be found in the Assess menu in
LDW. Many options and views for reviewing your preference
assessments can be found in the Review menu.
Ranking Your Alternatives and Displaying
Results
Once you have completed the steps above (or even before if you
want preliminary results) you will be ready to rank your
alternatives and display your results.
LDW provides many ways to review your results. You can rank
the alternatives on the overall goal or on any other goal or
measure with the Results::Rank Alternatives option. LDW sorts
the alternatives by utility and displays them in a bar graph.
Other results options include a bar graph showing the utilities for
a single alternative, a graph with a detailed comparison between
two alternatives, and a graph of the effects of changes in the
3-6 Section 3 -- Quick Start