User interface method and system for graphical decision making with categorization across multiple criteria
First Claim
1. A computer system providing decision analysis for providing evaluations of a plurality of user defined options with respect to a user defined criterion, comprising:
- a user interface display including an ordered first plurality of category areas distributed along a first axis, and having a plurality of contiguous locations distributed along a second axis, each location along the second axis mapped to a rating within a selected range of numerical ratings, the category areas ordered such that the selected ranges form a numerical sequence, each category area capable of displaying options at selected locations along the second axis, the display of an option at a selected location within a category area indicative of a categorical evaluation of the option with respect to the criterion and a selected numeric rating; and
a pointing device operable by a user to select any option displayed within the user interface display and to position the selected option at a location in a category area to establish a rating corresponding to the displayed location thereto.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system and method operate on a number of user interfaces to provide a graphical decision making tool that allows a user to graphically define and manipulate objects representing options, criteria, and ratings, to analyze and produce a decision. The user interfaces include an option rating window for each criterion for categorically rating the options with respect to the criterion. The option rating window includes a number of columnar category areas representing various categories for graphically evaluating the options, and a number of special rating areas for ascribing particular non-linear evaluations. The category areas are mapped to numeric rating scales so that the graphical position of a rating (associated with both an option and a criterion) produces a numeric rating for the option. The user interfaces further include a criteria weighting window for graphically establishing a criteria weight for each criterion. The user interfaces further include a decision table window that displays a matrix defined by the options and criteria and that displays the qualitative evaluations and summary ratings for each option, where the summary ratings of an option are based on the numeric ratings for the option.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A computer system providing decision analysis for providing evaluations of a plurality of user defined options with respect to a user defined criterion, comprising:
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a user interface display including an ordered first plurality of category areas distributed along a first axis, and having a plurality of contiguous locations distributed along a second axis, each location along the second axis mapped to a rating within a selected range of numerical ratings, the category areas ordered such that the selected ranges form a numerical sequence, each category area capable of displaying options at selected locations along the second axis, the display of an option at a selected location within a category area indicative of a categorical evaluation of the option with respect to the criterion and a selected numeric rating; and a pointing device operable by a user to select any option displayed within the user interface display and to position the selected option at a location in a category area to establish a rating corresponding to the displayed location thereto. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer system providing decision analysis for providing evaluations of a plurality of options with respect to at least one user defined criterion, comprising:
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a user interface display including an ordered plurality of criteria weighting areas distributed along a first axis, each criteria weighting area mapped to a selected range of numerical weights, and having a plurality of contiguous locations distributed along a second axis, each location along the second axis mapped to a numerical criteria weight within the selected range, the criteria weighting areas ordered such that the selected ranges form a numerical sequence, each criteria weighting area capable of displaying criteria at selected locations along the second axis, the display of a criterion at a selected location within a criteria weighting area indicative of categorical evaluation of the criteria corresponding to a significance of the criteria in evaluating the options, the selected location mapped to a selected criteria weight; and a pointing device operable by a user to select any criteria displayed within the user interface display and to position the selected criteria at a location in a criteria weighting area to establish a criteria weight therefor. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer system providing decision analysis for providing evaluations of a plurality of options with respect to at least one user defined criterion, the computer system comprising:
a decision table display window including; a first plurality of user defined options, each option displayed in a separate first cell defining a row, the options displayed in an ordered sequence; a second plurality of user defined criteria, each criteria displayed in a separate second cell defining a column, each criteria associated with a criteria weight; a rating matrix including a third plurality of rating cells, each rating cell displayed at an intersection of a row defined by a first cell and a column defined by a second cell, each rating cell displaying a rating label descriptive of a categorical evaluation of the option named in the first cell with respect to the criteria named in the second cell, each rating cell associated with a numeric rating; and a plurality of summary rating cells, each summary rating cell associated with an option and displayed in a same row as the option, each summary rating cell displaying summary rating label descriptive of an overall evaluation of the associated option with respect to the criteria, each summary rating cell associated with a numeric summary rating that is a function of the numeric rating of each rating cell in the same row and the criteria weight of the criteria in the column of each rating cell, the ordered sequence of the options determined by an ordering of the summary ratings and selected rating labels. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer implemented method of performing a decision analysis, comprising the steps of:
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accepting a first set of user inputs defining at least one option; accepting a second set of user inputs defining at least one criterion; accepting a third set of user inputs weighting a user selected criterion with a criteria weight by; displaying a plurality of images, each image representative of a criterion; accepting a fifth user input specifying a position for an image representing the user selected criterion; positioning the image at the position; and
,determining the criteria weight of the user selected criteria as a function of the position; accepting a fourth user input rating a user selected option with respect to a user selected criterion to establish an option rating, the option rating associated with the user selected option and the user selected criterion; determining, for each option, a summary rating as a function of the option rating associated with the option, each summary rating associated with an option; ordering the summary ratings; and
,displaying the options in an ordere sequence determined by the ordering of the summary ratings. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification