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Figure 5.3
Functional Usefulness of DSS Dialog Symbols and Actions for Decision-Maker
Calibration in Relation to the Degree of Problem Novelty
High
Visibility
Expressiveness
Inquirability
Low
Low
High
Problem Novelty
META-DESIGN AND DESIGN
Two aspects not discussed in the original presentation of the theory are meta-design and design
(Walls et al., 2004). “Meta-design characterizes activities, processes, and objectives . . . that allow
'owners of problems' to act as designers and be creative” (Fischer et al., 2004, p. 35). In this
way, design, learning, and development become part of every user's decision-making process.
Moreover, for both practical and decision-making reasons, “. . . no matter how much designers
and programmers try to anticipate and provide for what users will need, the effort always falls
short because it is impossible to know in advance what may be needed. . . . End users should have
the ability to create customizations, extensions, and applications . . .” to respond to their decision-
making needs (Nadir, 1993, p. 3). The control inherent in this depiction of meta-design is essen-
tial to user calibration. One way to balance the illusory benefits of this control is through
critiquing systems. “[A] critiquing system tests the credibility of a user's solution by examining
the knowledge and judgment that she used to reach the solution” (Moulin et al., 2002, p. 182).
Indeed, Vahidov and Elrod (1999) propose DSS that have two software agents, an “angel” and
“devil,” acting respectively as opponent and proponent of a user-suggested proposition. This
dialectic process of debate is essential for perfect calibration.
EXAMPLES OF THE THEORY'S COMPONENTS
Examples of expressiveness, visibility, and inquirability abound, and several prototype systems
already exist in various forms and stages of development. ELIZA (Weizenbaum, 1966) is perhaps
the best-known example of the potential of expressiveness affects. Although dated, and crude
by today's standards, ELIZA's expressiveness was very effective. A more futuristic example of
expressiveness was depicted by the ultraintelligent computer system HAL in Arthur C. Clarke and
Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic science fiction screenplay
2001: A Space Odyssey
. HAL's anthro-
pomorphic expressiveness was central to much of the movie's effectiveness.
Visual computing has rapidly become the standard for designing human-computer interfaces. One
example known to many spreadsheet users is Palisade Corporation's @Risk, a risk analysis add-in for
Microsoft Excel that displays output in graphic form. According to Palisade, @Risk allows one to
“view” the results of their what-if analyses. Arena, another example of visualization, is simulation
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