Collaborative techniques for assigning weights to evaluation criteria

Weighting Factors

A variety of techniques are used to assign weights to evaluation criteria (Santiago, Lewis, Morris, Oberndorf and Harper, 2004). One of the most common is unstructured weighting where one or more people determine weights based on their understanding of the system requirements and their experience. However, more collaborative and comparative techniques are likely to yield better results.

The Delphi technique helps teams collaborate to reach a consensus on a single weight by following a series of cycles. Initially, a questionnaire is given to several people to obtain their informed opinions on the subject. Next, replies are tabulated and the questionnaire is distributed again, this time with all the opinions included in the questionnaire. People read each other's opinions and answer the questions again. This process might be repeated for three or four cycles. As information is exchanged, people incorporate each others perspectives and information into their thinking and collectively arrive at a mutual understanding of the critical issues to consider in their decision-making process.