Interact: Developing Software for Interactive Decisions

This paper describes the development and use of a piece of software, "INTERACT", for analysing situations under the control of several interested parties, with particular relevance to International Relations. After briefly discussing forms of analysis used, the paper outlines the design philosophy of the software itself. Various modes of use are considered, including those of "decision support" in which analysis is done "live" with decision-makers or their advisors teaching, and research. The functions typically performed in the course of analysis are illustrated by means of a worked example. Finally, avenues of current work are outlined, in particular the development of a "multi-user" version for training and experimental studies, and the prospective development of a knowledge base to underpin the analysis. An earlier version of this paper was presented to a Conference on Decision-Making Under Conditions of Conflict, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, August-Sept 1992.