RESULT OBTAINED
Main pathway
Interactive decision-support tools
What must be established
A useful analysis keeps its controls visible.
- 01
Define the inputs, units and missing values.
- 02
Make the weightings and calculation rules visible.
- 03
Keep the scenarios, sensitivities and versions of the result.
Decision reference
Make the next choice more explicit.
DECISION SUPPORTED
Which tool turns an analysis into a verifiable and reusable result?
DELIVERABLE TO KEEP
A calculation, a map, a graph or a file that can be checked and reused.
NEXT ELEMENT TO EXAMINE
MethodsExplore →Choose a tool by the decision, not by its appearance
The catalogue serves four distinct functions: framing a question, comparing options, testing an assumption and keeping a decision. Before use, specify the decision-maker, the horizon, the unit analysed and the expected consequence. An appealing matrix that changes no decision is not a useful tool.
- Decision supported
- User and deadline
- Essential inputs
- Genuinely usable output
Make each result reproducible
For a calculation or a score, publish the formula, the units, the input data, the weightings, the handling of missing values and at least one sensitivity test. The examples displayed on the site use simulated, illustrative data. They show a protocol, not a conclusion about a real market.
- Formula and sign convention
- Provenance and date
- Missing values
- Scenarios and sensitivity
Set a review rule before the result
An output becomes decision-oriented if it also states what would make it change. The review is triggered by more reliable data, the crossing of a threshold, a change of ranking under a plausible scenario or a change of scope. The version of the inputs and the final human decision are kept.
- Tipping threshold
- Review date
- Owner
- Final human decision
43 · ORIGINAL ASSET
Choose, launch and take away a decision tool
Functional library
Select the decision to be made. Each card states the inputs, the output, a teaching example and the file to reuse. The example values are simulated and describe no real market.
Download the tool sheet ↓Recommended tool: Attractiveness comparator. Conditional ranking and sensitivities to check.
01RECOMMENDED
Attractiveness comparator
- Inputs
- Criteria, weights, thresholds and source confidence level
- Output
- Conditional ranking and sensitivities to check
- Status
- Teaching demonstration, data to be replaced
02TOOL
Segmentation tree
- Inputs
- Discriminating variables, units of analysis and exclusion rules
- Output
- Comparable segments and a documented splitting path
- Status
- Teaching demonstration, data to be replaced
03TOOL
Positioning credibility test
- Inputs
- Alternatives, preference criteria, evidence and distinctive activities
- Output
- Gap between preference, credibility and ability to defend
- Status
- Teaching demonstration, data to be replaced
04TOOL
Decision mandate diagnosis
- Inputs
- Decision, options, evidence and review rules
- Output
- Score, priority gaps and an exportable mandate
- Status
- Teaching demonstration, data to be replaced
Teaching case · simulated data · no real-world market conclusion.
- UK Government, The AQuA Book, 2025 (opens in a new tab)Official framework for documenting data, assumptions, uncertainty, validation and proportionate assurance of an analysis.
- European Commission, JRC sensitivity methods (opens in a new tab)Institutional reference for testing the influence of assumptions and parameters on the results of a model.
MOVE FROM ANALYSIS TO YOUR DECISION
Choose the tool suited to the decision to be made
MOVE FROM ANALYSIS TO YOUR DECISION
Choose the tool suited to the decision to be made
RETURN TO THE DECISION SYSTEM
See the canonical definition of marketing strategy→