A user-oriented implementation of the ELECTRE-TRI method integrating preference elicitation support

Multiple Criteria Sorting Problem consists in assigning a set of alternatives A={a1,a2,…,al} evaluated on n criteria g1,g2,…,gn to one of the categories which are pre-defined by some norms corresponding to vectors of scores on particular criteria, called profiles, either separating the categories or playing the role of central reference objects in the categories. The assignment of an alternative ak to a specific category results from a comparison of its evaluation on all criteria with the profiles defining the categories. This paper presents a new implementation of an existing method called ELECTRE TRI. It integrates specific functionalities supporting the decision maker (DM) in the preference elicitation process. These functionalities grouped in ELECTRE TRI Assistant aim at reducing the cognitive effort required from the DM in the phase of calibration of the preference model. The main characteristic feature of ELECTRE TRI Assistant is the inference of the ELECTRE TRI preferential parameters from assignment examples supplied by the DM. The software is presented through an illustrative example.