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

In: Handbook on Decision Support Systems 2

Author

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  • Mark S. Silver

    (Fordham University)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark S. Silver, 2008. "On the Design Features of Decision Support Systems: The Role of System Restrictiveness and Decisional Guidance," International Handbooks on Information Systems, in: Handbook on Decision Support Systems 2, chapter 49, pages 261-291, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ihichp:978-3-540-48716-6_13
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-48716-6_13
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