Decisor tool

Decisor tool

You can download the latest tool version at the following link @GitHub. Feel free to send us your comments, suggestions or remarks.

You may also consult the tool's wiki page or User Manual for explanations as to how to use the software

This tool is under continuous development. It was coded using Qt mixed with C/C++. Below, we show how to cite the tool, a list of features, some new projects, the people involved, and a list of interesting readings to understand the method.

The tool implements at its core the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), developed by Professor Thomas L. Saaty in the 80'. The method is used for problems where multicriteria are defined for complex decision making.

How to cite the tool?

R. M. Czekster, H. J. de Carvalho, G. Z. Kessler, L. M. Kipper, T. Webber. Decisor: A software tool to drive complex decisions with Analytic Hierarchy Process. International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making 18(1), p. 65-86, 2019, DOI: 10.1142/S0219622018500360.

Features

The following features are shipped within the Decisor tool:

Built with simplicity in our mindset - it is very easy to use and to interact with
Free to use, and distribute (binary version only), for Windows OS based platforms (currently)
AHP modeling with dynamic criteria and alternatives constructions
Instantaneous indices computation (computes weight vectors on-the-fly as uses input data to the model)
Human readable textual input file (model) - it could be used interchangeably with the tool (read/write)
Multiple fundamental scales (e.g. exponential, logarithmic, power, etc)
B.O.C.R. (Benefits, Opportunities, Costs, Risks) analysis
Group Decision Making (menu item "File > Open Multiple" - if the model is the same, then it will compute the geometric average and compute the weights accordingly)
Easy reporting for paper production (comma separated values, showing important computed indices)

New projects and ideas

Incorporate ANP (Analytic Network Process) into the tool
Internationalization issues (it is currently written in English)
Add questionnaire features for semi-automatic AHP modeling
Implement sensitivity analysis and visualization (charts) support
Work on the web related and smartphone version of the tool
Cross-platform porting, e.g. GNU/Linux and MacOS

Reading list

We list a non-comprehensive list of papers worth reading to understand AHP and its variants.

Saaty, T. L. (1980). Analytic hierarchy process. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Saaty, T. L. (1990). How to make a decision: the analytic hierarchy process. European journal of operational research, 48(1), 9-26.
Vaidya, O. S., & Kumar, S. (2006). Analytic hierarchy process: An overview of applications. European Journal of operational research, 169(1), 1-29.
Saaty, T. L. (2008). Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. International journal of services sciences, 1(1), 83-98.

People involved

We list some of the people involved with the implementation of the tool.

Henrique Jung de Carvalho, 2016, 2017: implemented the GUI in Qt, BOCR, scales and minor bugs.
Ricardo M. Czekster, 2016, 2017: produced the first (command line) version of AHP, validating with other tools.
Thais Webber, 2017, 2018: improvements on features and reports; tested the software for defects.
Gabriela Z. Kessler, 2016: tested the tool and interactions with the resource team behind the tool validation.
Liane M. Kipper, 2016: tested the tool and interactions with other researchers to adopt the software.