DSS Success Measures: Evaluating the SCaRPA DSS

The evaluation of a decision support system (DSS) should take account of the intended scope of the system, which has usually been defined as a result of consultation and planning between the developer and client. Project governance and decision-making roles need to be clearly assigned, performance targets and measures established, together with an analysis of external factors that could affect DSS adoption. We propose that different criteria should be used for evaluating environmental DSS, specific to its intrinsic and its extrinsic values. The intrinsic value relates to utility or how the DSS facilitates process, and includes elements such as design, content and process. It is relatively easy to plan for success, where success equates to adoption of the DSS. The extrinsic value of a DSS relates to its usefulness or impact, which for an environmental DSS means the extent to which environmental outcomes are achieved more efficiently than without the DSS. Evaluation against this measure is difficult for the project team. The authors use the approach to evaluate the SCaRPA DSS, an environmental DSS for catchment planning and on-ground investment assessment.