Local News in Brief : Irvine : UCI Professors Develop Decision-Making Means

Two UC Irvine research professors are developing methods “to help decision makers generate more and better options,” the university announced.

L. Robin Keller and Joanna Ho, assistant professors in the UCI Graduate School of Management, have focused their research on the choices a person has in making a decision. “Thinking of possible choices is just as important as selecting among them to make the best possible decision,” Keller said.

While a variety of tools have been developed to help decision makers choose from the options presented them, very little research has focused on generation of the options themselves, she said. The researchers said they have identified five categories of procedures for generating options in decision making.

Keller and Ho predicted that further research in “option generation” may lead to development of a hand-held, battery-operated computer to help make decisions. “This kind of decision aid could be especially useful in an emergency situation such as helping an emergency-services director generate options for procedures to follow in the event of a severe earthquake,” Keller said.