Criteria attributes

You can use attributes to specify how criteria are used for comparisons.
Attribute Description
Objective (a choice with predefined values) Use the Objective to determine whether the goal is to minimize or maximize the criterion. For example, you might want to maximize the strategic value and minimize the cost of development. Typically, you maximize elements with high priorities and minimize elements with low priorities.
Question (a text field) The Question is displayed in the Prioritize frame when elements are compared. If no question is specified, a standard question is displayed.
Important: The clearer the question is, the easier and faster prioritization is. Write the question positively. For example, for the Strategic value criterion, you might ask, "Which project has higher strategic value?"
Estimate (a link to another attribute) When you use estimates, you enter numbers instead of making pairwise comparisons. With the Estimate attribute, you can link to an attribute in another module.

For example, in the Projects module, you might want to have an attribute named "Cost of development" that is of the Integer type. With this attribute, you can enter figures for the development cost for each project in the Projects module.

By creating a link to the Cost of development attribute, you can display the values in a chart. For example, you can plot the strategic value, which is based on pairwise comparisons, on the y axis. You can plot the cost of development, which is based on estimates, on the x axis. When you know the numbers to compare, use estimates; otherwise use pairwise comparisons.

Type (a choice with predefined values)

Use the Type attribute to determine whether the criterion is private, public, or sum.

  • For private criteria (Private criteria), members have individual sets of pairwise comparisons. Members cannot see or edit each other's comparisons.
  • For public criteria (Public criteria), members share the same set of pairwise comparisons.
  • Sum criteria (Sum criteria) do not use pairwise comparisons. Instead, priorities are calculated as the sum of the priorities of the children.
Note: Sum criteria calculate the priorities regardless of the objectives of the criteria. If you mix maximize criteria with minimize criteria when you use sum, the results are meaningless.

The public type is intended for normal use. Use private when you want several members to prioritize the elements in a view for the same criterion (for example, for market surveys). If the Estimate attribute is linked to an attribute, the Type attribute is ineffective. Only private and public criteria (with no estimate specified) are listed in the Prioritize frame.

Changing the Type

You can change the Type attribute at any time. When you change the Type to public or private, you can copy comparisons between members and delete comparisons.

To copy comparisons between members, in the Copy section, select a view and two members. To overwrite old comparisons, select Overwrite old comparisons, and click OK.

To delete comparisons, in the Delete section, select a view and a member, and click OK.
Note: A public criterion can have private comparisons. As long as the criterion is public, the private comparisons are not used. However, the private comparisons are stored on the database. When the Type is changed to private, the private comparisons are used instead of the public ones.

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