Qualitative reasoning model for tradeoff analysis

Abstract

In Multi-Criteria Decision Making problems such as choosing a development policy, selecting software products, or searching for commodities to purchase, it is often necessary to evaluate solution options in respect of multiple objectives. The solution alternative that performs best in all the objectives is the dominant solution, and it should be selected to solve the problem. However, usually the selection objectives are incomparable and conflicting, making it impossible to have a dominant solution among the alternatives. In such cases, tradeoff analysis is required to identify the objectives that can be optimized, and those that can be comprised in order to choose a winning solution. In this paper we present a tradeoff analysis model based on the principles of qualitative reasoning that provides visualization support for understanding interaction and tradeoff dependences among solutions evaluation criteria which affect the tradeoff among selection objectives. Moreover, the decision support system based on our tradeoff analysis model facilitates discovery of hidden solution features so as to improve the completeness and certainty of the user preference model. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.