A DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR EMBEDDING DECISION GUIDANCE INTO GDSS

Many Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) provide normative decision models aimed at supporting communication as well as consensus building . Findings of several empirical studies investigating the merit of the se systems suggest that groups need extra guidance and facilitation to assure successful use of the GDSS. Embedding decision guidance mechan isms into the GDSS itself has the potential of yielding supportive and flexible systems that can foster effective and efficient use of these systems. The unstructured nature of group decision making, the comput er's active role in facilitating and guiding the group throughout the decision-making process, and the complexity of a group's interactions and dynamics during the decision making are the driving forces requiri ng the use of a customized design methodology for embedding decision g uidance into GDSS. The purpose of this article is to suggest a design methodology for embedding decision guidance into GDSS. A detailed desc ription of the screen design and of the operation of an actual decisio n guidance implementation achieved by applying the suggested design ap proach is also provided. The article concludes by describing two empir ical studies aimed at investigating the merit of the decison guidance implementation.