This book develops an innovative system, in the form of an "app", that harnesses the power of the internet to predict which sorts of people will prefer which policy in ANY planning situation. It chronicles the accumulated research wisdom behind the system's reasoning, along with several less successful approaches to policy making that have been found wanting in the past - including the myth, usually peddled by strategic planners, that it is possible to find a "best" plan which optimally satisfies everybody. The book lays out an entirely new kind of Planning Support System (PSS). It will facilitate decision-making that is far more community-sensitive than previously, and it will drastically improve the performance of anyone who needs to plan within socially-sensitive contexts - which is all of us. A standout feature of the system is its commitment to "scientific rigour", as shown by its predicted plan scores always being graphically presented within error margins so that true statistical significance is instantly observable. Moreover, the probabilities that its predictions are correct are always shown - a refreshing change from most, if not all other Decision Support Systems (DSS) that simply expect users to accept their outputs on faith alone.

Contents:
Introduction. Silicon and Carbon. Mainstream Software. Peripheral Software. Innovative Software. Frontier Software Case 1: Cyberquest. Frontier Software Case 2: Strad. Frontier Software Case 3: Expert Choice. Frontier Software Case 4: Stategizer. A United Frontier? Conclusions.

This book will prove a unique source of information and instruction for anyone seeking to make better human-oriented policy, whether urban planner, business strategist, or manager in the field of education, health or welfare, Ingeniously Wyatt has created two books in one: the main text covers the types of software package available: mainstream software, peripheral software, innovative software, frontier software; the lessons generated from the software are outlined in lesson boxes. Readers can use the text alone to familiarize themselves with the computer packages or read the boxes only, or they can do both.

This book develops an innovative system, in the form of an "app", that harnesses the power of the internet to predict which sorts of people will prefer which policy in ANY planning situation. It chronicles the accumulated research wisdom behind the system's reasoning, along with several less successful approaches to policy making that have been found wanting in the past - including the myth, usually peddled by strategic planners, that it is possible to find a "best" plan which optimally satisfies everybody. The book lays out an entirely new kind of Planning Support System (PSS). It will facilitate decision-making that is far more community-sensitive than previously, and it will drastically improve the performance of anyone who needs to plan within socially-sensitive contexts - which is all of us. A standout feature of the system is its commitment to "scientific rigour", as shown by its predicted plan scores always being graphically presented within error margins so that true statistical significance is instantly observable. Moreover, the probabilities that its predictions are correct are always shown - a refreshing change from most, if not all other Decision Support Systems (DSS) that simply expect users to accept their outputs on faith alone.