How can we make better decisions? How can we make data-informed decisions without having to become “data scientists”? How can many more people have the means to make robust decisions?

I started on a project to look for ways to apply analytics to decision making … and I found a lot of decisions don’t actually need “analytics”. We always need a clear assessment of the situation at hand. Beyond that, what many important problems do benefit from is:

  • Decision structuring
  • Clarity in the information seeking process
  • Attention to how we engage other people
  • Thinking clearly about the systems context.

How do we all get on the same page about the problem we are trying to solve? Systems models and diagrams help with that.

How do we connect actions to consequences? Data and subject matter expertise helps with that. There are many important problems that do benefit from analytics, particularly analytics in the form of inferential statistics – and that’s hard for a lot of people.

In application, the knowhow matters as much as the technology.

  • Skills in basic decision making and quantitative critical thinking would benefit a lot of people.
  • For technology, the ideal platform will complement basic skill with a long lever for heavy lifts.

In order to support solving important decision problems, I’ve been working to design a decision support platform that extends situation assessment to integrate:

  • Collaborative, structured decision making,
  • Relatable systems visualization,
  • Approachable statistical analytics that reduce ambiguity,
  • Simulations that tell stories.

Application areas include:

  • Managing innovation
  • Design for sustainability
  • Participatory policy design
  • Business and market simulation

We can put the knowhow within reach. And, an accessible, go-to resource for complex decision problems can have big impact.