The methodology and algorithms used in the Priotice web application are partly based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). AHP is a method developed by mathematician Thomas L. Saaty in the early 80's but has been developed since then.

AHP is a method which is designed to handle complex decisions. Especially when there are many criteria, many alternatives and many participants. The method is based on pairwise comparisons instead of ranking a long list of alternatives. The brain can easily rank 3-4 alternatives with single criteria. But it becomes difficult when there are multiple criteria and the list of alternatives is longer. Then a method and application is needed.

Many prioritization methods are using exact figures and facts to rank alternatives. But that is not necessary in AHP. AHP is based on pairwise comparisons and all results are therefore based on alternatives or criteria in relation to each other. How much more important is Alternative 1 than Alternative 2 etc.?

The final result is a normalized ranked list of alternatives with the total of 100%. In the figure below is Alternative 2 the most important, Alternative 1 second most important and Alternative 3 the least important.

Watch the video to get a more detailed description of how AHP works:

Mats Olsson