Building DSS for negotiators: a three-step design process

A negotiation support system (NSS) is commonly defined as a set of negotiator´s individual decision support systems (DSS) interconnected with a communications/group decision component. The author presents a three-step design framework to build a negotiator´s DSS that offers its user analytical and strategic insights about the counterpart(s). The purpose of such an NSS is to improve the user´s bargaining performance over his/her opponent(s). The proposed design process is illustrated by three versions of NEGOTIATOR, a bilateral, multiple-issue, single-party negotiation support system. The system is designed to be used either as a stand-alone DSS or an integrated DSS module of a NSS dedicated to support communications and group problem solving tasks