Mark S. Silver

User perceptions of decision support system restrictiveness: an experiment

Abstract:We often think of decision support systems (dss) simply as expanding managerial information-processing capabilities. When a manager relies on the functional capabilities of a particular dss in solving a problem, however, he or she is actually restricted to some subset of the full range of possible decision-making processes. Dss builders may wish to use this “restrictiveness” characteristic as a design variable, deliberately choosing the ways in which a dss restricts its users. To do so effectively, builders need to know whether restrictiveness should be treated as an absolute or a relative attribute. A key research question, therefore, is whether all users will be restricted identically by a given dss.This paper reports on an experiment exploring if and how different users of the same dss differ in their perceptions of system restrictiveness. Subjects used three dss and ranked them from most to least restrictive. The results indicated that, while there was a significant similarity among rankings,...

Descriptive analysis for computer-based decision support

This article studies the issue of descriptive analysis for Decision Support Systems (DSS). Much of the DSS research literature concentrates on the procedural aspects of building support systems rather than on the substantive issues of their content. If we are to expand our knowledge of DSS, however, it is important to complement our understanding of the process of their development with a means for describing and differentiating DSS. In particular, a descriptive mechanism should pay careful attention to those features of DSS that determine the effects a support system has on the decision making processes of its users. A three-tiered approach to describing DSS is proposed, consisting of the following sequence of analytical levels: functional capabilities, user views of system components, and system attributes (restrictiveness, guidance, and focus). Moving from the first through the third tiers, increasing attention is paid to examining DSS in their entirety and to considering their effects on decision making processes.

On the Design Features of Decision Support Systems: The Role of System Restrictiveness and Decisional Guidance

This chapter is about the substantive design of DSS features. It begins with a set of five premises that are fundamental for designing DSSs yet are often neglected in the prescriptive literature. Because a DSS is an intervention into the processes by which decisions are made, and because the ultimate outcome of DSS design is not the system itself but the system’s consequences, the key question for designers to keep in mind is this: What will the decision maker do with the system? Contemplating this question leads to two key design features of DSS: system restrictiveness and decisional guidance. System restrictiveness refers to how a DSS limits decision makers who rely on it to a subset of all possible decision-making processes. Decisional guidance refers to how a DSS enlightens, sways, or directs decision makers as they choose and use its functional capabilities. Together these two features play a significant role in determining whether a DSS will successfully achieve its design objectives while avoiding undesirable side-effects. The chapter explores how a system’s restrictiveness and decisional guidance can be defined by designers to achieve their design objectives as well as how DSS features can restrict and guide.

Browser-based applications: popular but flawed?

Browser-based applications (BBAs), applications built on top of web browsers, dominate the world of Internet Applications today but are fundamentally flawed because the web browser is a weak platform for applications. Three characteristics of the browser—page orientation, statelessness, and limited computation—combine to produce a set of practical problems for BBA users. These problems include delays and discontinuities, confusion and errors, clumsy interfacing and limited functionality, printing problems, and filing difficulties. The paper analyzes these usability problems, providing numerous examples and tracing them back to underlying browser characteristics. The paper also examines the factors that make BBAs so popular despite their flaws. The paper concludes by considering directions for understanding the phenomenon better and for improving the current state of Internet Applications.

User perceptions of DSS restrictiveness: an experiment

An experiment is presented that explores if and how different users of the same decision-support system (DSS) differ in their perceptions of system restrictiveness. Subjects used three DSSs and ranked them from most to least restrictive. The results indicated that while there was a significant similarity among rankings, there were also substantial differences. Several factors contributing to the perceptual differences were identified; these can serve as the basis for further research.<<ETX>>

Decision Support Systems: Balancing Directed and Nondirected Change

Abstract That Decision Support Systems (DSS) should and do serve as agents for change in individual and organizational decision-making processes is a widely held position. There is less agreement, however, on whether or not DSS should deliberately try to influence the direction of the changes they cause. The panel examines the distinction between directed and nondirected change, debating the trade-offs among these two approaches and considering the likely course that practice will follow in the years ahead.