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The Analytic Hierarchy Process is used for complex decision analysis. This technique is very useful when you have decision makers that have diverse opinions yet need to come to consensus, especially if they are not agreeing on the decision criteria. The USDA used it for the selection of bridge materials across the nation in several states. What does it use: simple mathematics, criteria (set by the decision makers), preferences of that criteria (set by the decision makers) and a standard preference table.

The types of decisions one may apply this to is basically limitless. I have used it for project prioritization and selection, sorting out suppliers, site selection, competitive analysis just to name a few.

Several of the strengths of AHP are: identifying the selection criteria and developing the weighting of those criteria, analyzing the data collected for the criteria and facilitating the decision-making process. In addition, AHP can capture both subjective and objective measures that allows for the checking of consistency of the team and thus minimizing bias in the decision making. (Simple example: Apples rate higher than Oranges, Oranges rate higher than Bananas, then math suggests Apples rate higher than Bananas, while a decision member may have ranked Bananas higher than Apples, AHP software can flag this inconsistency).

While it can be used in many ways, the three that I recommend are: Choice, Ranking or Prioritization.

1. Choice: this technique allows you to obtain a decision on one alternative over many others.
2. Ranking: as the name suggests you can obtain the criteria to rank a list.
3. Prioritization: Determining the relative merit of a set of alternatives, as opposed to selecting a single one or merely ranking them

Here is a simple overview of the layout for selecting a car for the Jone’s family.

Tip: The process can very time consuming so it is best to pre-screen your lists/alternatives using excel or other means to reduce the number to less than 10, where 5 or less is best.

Software:

• Decision Lens Decision Lens offers both a Decision Lens Suite for the desktop and a Web based program.
• Expert Choice It is our collective opinion that this is the best software out there for AHP. They offer both a Desk-top version, Expert Choice, and a Web-based Software Companion Suite.
• Web-HIPRE A web-version for decision analytic problem structuring, multicriteria evaluation and prioritization.

FreeWare
• AHP Trade-off – EXCEL spreadsheet supporting trade-off by means of the Analytical Hierarchy Process method. Offered from Delf University of Technology