If interactive decision support systems are the answer, have we been asking the right questions?

Abstract

Over the last 30 years, significant resources have been devoted to the development of computer-based decision support systems (DSS), usually in the belief that they were capturing, assimilating and delivering information that could help farmers to better manage their farms. The accumulated evidence suggests that this belief was largely misguided - most DSS have ‘failed’ in the agricultural market place. Despite this, many scientists continue to develop and attempt to deploy DSS that are intended to help farmers make management decisions. Here we examine aspects of the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of three DSS with the aim of drawing from the experience some guidelines that may help in the development and deployment of future DSS. We don't see DSS as a lost cause, provided that scientists learn hard-won lessons from their collective achievements and failures. These include recognizing: (1) the need for comprehensive marketing information to inform the process of DSS conception and delivery rather than just the more usual autopsy; (2) that there are almost invariably other, perhaps more effective, methods for acquiring and transmitting the knowledge embodied in a DSS; (3) that what appear to be technical and quantitative management ‘problems’ often involve social, qualitative and subjective processes and ‘solutions’ that DSS are not well-equipped to consider; (4) that DSS are usually best accepted when they seek to enhance rather than replace farmers’ existing decision making processes, making those that help to understand ‘how things work’ generally better accepted than those that present ‘optimized’ solutions. Further lessons are examined.

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