Expert support systems design issues

Expert support systems (ESSs) promise valuable support to decision-makers in business settings where a number of complex and interacting decisions must be accommodated. Even though the proliferation of ESSs in business has been limited, the issues involved in designing such systems need to be addressed so that development resources are well utilized and the end product is successful. This paper addresses the following questions: What are the factors that affect the successful design of an ESS? And how do these factors affect the design process? These factors are identified by considering factors that are relevant to MIS development and how they relate to the new technology of expert systems. A prototype ESS is used to illustrate the issues addressed in this paper.