The Technology Utility Assessment

Utility assessment includes the entire process of identifying, measuring, and combining attributes to create an explicit value structure that can form a basis for evaluations and decisions. The utility assessment process is reviewed, and selected issues and problems are discussed. The focus is on applications in field and field-like settings where it is necessary, in order to solve a problem, to assess the utility of items or alternatives having more than one valued property. Although some aspects of the paper are new, much of the paper is tutorial in nature. Assessment techniques are discussed with particular emphasis on the factors which determine the relative effectiveness of the various techniques in specific situations. Assessment models are discussed, along with a description of the areas where they have been applied. Guidelines are developed for improving the probability of success in applying utility assessment, and suggestions are made for the research necessary to further improve the technology of utility assessment.