SOME PRINCIPLES OF DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT AND A COMBAT SUPPORT SYSTEM CASE STUDY.

The design and development of interactive decision support systems is fraught with analytical problems. This article proposes a nine-step blueprint for decision support systems (DSS) design and development. The process is comprised of requirements analysis, functional modeling, analytical methods selection, software engineering, hardware configuration, system packaging, and system transfer. The steps in the systems design process are implemented with references to the combat support systems domain. A functional model in the form of a 'storyboard' is developed. Storyboards are screen displays that together constitute a system concept intended to validate requirements. The prototyping strategy is evaluated in a specific domain context; inferences about the generalizability of the experience are offered.