DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEMS - LEARNING FROM VISUAL INTERACTIVE MODELING

The two research fields of, in the first instance, Decision Support Systems (DSS) and then secondly, Visual Interactive Modelling (VIM) have developed by mostly independent research. Yet these two fields seek many common goals. The VIM field has been seen as a largely technical development aiding certain Operational Research methods. On the other hand DSS have developed in the wider context of a recognition of a need to provide directed and helpful information to support decision making. In this paper we develop, firstly, an understanding of VIM in the context of current thinking on DSS. Ostensibly, it would seem that VIM is simply a DSS with a sophisticated user interface. However, we argue that VIM is an approach which has at its core an ability to allow decision makers to learn about their own subjective values while modelling technical issues. We suggest that embracing this learning objective at the design stage will enhance the power of Visual Interactive Models in particular and Decision Support Systems in general.