Computer based process for strategy evaluation and optimization based on customer desired outcomes and predictive metrics

A processor-readable medium of instructions for directing a computer-like system to evaluate data to allow a user to create and optimize strategic business and personal decision making with respect to a user selected process prior to implementation of any decision, said instructions comprising:

• (a) data means for processing data relating to a plurality of specific processes and discrete customer sets, said data including information obtained by conducting interviews of a statistically representative sample of individual customers from each of said customer sets whereby desired outcomes, identifying benefits that each customer sets value, are elicited and quantified in terms of the importance of each of said desired outcomes to each of said customer sets and a degree to which each of said desired outcomes is currently satisfied in connection with a specific process and according to each of said customer sets, each of said desired outcomes free from any solution or specification and remaining stable over time;
• (b) first selection means for selecting the specific process for decision optimization evaluation;
• (c) second selection means for selecting a plurality of customer sets for evaluation, each of said customer sets including a portion of said data which corresponds to desired outcomes of said customer sets, each of said desired outcomes having an assigned importance rating and an assigned satisfaction rating in connection with each said selected customer sets;
• (d) desired outcome prioritization means for ranking said desired outcomes in each of said selected customer sets in terms of said importance and satisfaction ratings, such that said desired outcomes identified as important yet unsatisfied are ranked higher than desired outcomes identified as unimportant or satisfied;
• (e) said data further comprising specific predictive metrics which predict satisfaction, with certainty, of at least one desired outcome, said predictive metrics defining means, which can be measured and controlled, for satisfying said at least one desired outcome;
• (f) means for evaluating the degree to which each of said predictive metrics predict satisfaction of each of said desired outcomes for each of said customer sets to determine a normalized relationship between said desired outcomes and said predictive metrics and to prioritize said predictive metrics;
• (g) strategy option means, in communication with said data, for defining a plurality of strategic options anticipated to provide a solution for optimizing a decision corresponding to said user selected process, each of said strategic options designed to satisfy an identifiable number of said desired outcomes;
• (h) quantification means, in communication with said strategy option means, for enabling the user to quantify the degree to which each of said strategic options satisfies said desired outcomes and
• (f) means for presenting the degree to which each of said strategic options satisfies said desired outcomes to allow the user to select an optimal strategic option, prior to implementation of any strategic option.

An article of manufacture for use with a computer system for directing the computer system to process data related to a user selected process to allow a user to create and select an optimal solution that will satisfy strategic personal and business decisions related to the user selected process prior to implementation of any solution, said article comprising:

• a computer-readable medium of instructions having a processor readable program code means for directing a computer to process information for evaluating customer related data for optimizing personal and business strategies;
• said processor readable program code comprising:
• means for receiving and processing a database of process specific data corresponding to a plurality of predetermined customer sets, said data comprising desired outcomes elicited from said customer sets which identify benefits that each customer set values;
• said desired outcomes including priority values associated with each customer set for quantifying and ranking said desired outcomes in terms of perceived importance in each customer set and a degree to which each of said desired outcomes is currently, each of said desired outcomes free from any solution or specification and remaining stable over time;
• said data further including predictive metrics for predicting, with certainty, satisfaction of at least one of said desired outcomes, each of said predictive metrics being assigned scaled indicators representing the degree to which a predictive metric predicts satisfaction of said desired outcomes;
• means for selecting at least one customer set from said predetermined customer sets;
• desired outcome ranking means for ranking said desired outcomes, said desired outcome ranking means factoring in said priority values associated with each of said desired outcomes and each of said customer sets, said desired outcomes identified as important yet unsatisfied have a higher ranking value than desired outcomes identified as unimportant or satisfied;
• matrix analysis means for prioritizing said predictive metrics in terms of the degree to which said predictive metrics predict satisfaction of said ranked desired outcomes, said matrix analysis means identifying those predictive metrics which predict satisfaction of a disproportionate share of highly ranked customer desired outcomes;
• strategic option means for defining a plurality of strategic options designed to satisfy a predetermined number of said desired outcomes;
• strategic option prioritizing means for prioritizing each of said strategic options;
• and
• means for presenting the prioritized strategic options to allow the user to create and select, prior to the implementation of any option, which stategic options offers the optimal solution for satisfying the user selected process.

A computer program product for use with a computer system for directing the computer system to process data related to a user selected process to allow a user to create and select an optimal solution that will satisfy strategic personal and business decisions related to the user selected process prior to implementation of any solution, said computer system including a data storage means, memory, a processor, an input means, and an output means, said program product comprising:

• data storage means for storing data obtained from conducting interviews of a statistically representative sample of individual customers from a plurality of customer sets in connection with specific processes, said data comprising a plurality of desired outcomes from said customer sets, each of said desired outcomes having an associated importance factor and an associated satisfaction factor, said satisfaction factor indicating a degree to which a corresponding desired outcome has been achieved, each of said desired outcomes free from any solution or specification and remaining stable over time;
• said data including a plurality of predictive metrics, said predictive metrics comprising measurable parameters which predict the satisfaction, with certainty, of at least one of said desired outcomes, each of said predictive metrics assigned a scaled indicator for each of said desired outcomes, said scaled indicators representing the degree to which each predictive metric satisfies a particular customer desired outcome;
• means for user selecting the specific process to be evaluated for optimization in accordance with said data;
• means for selecting a plurality of customer sets for evaluation of said selected process;
• means for weighting the importance of said selected customer sets by assigning each of said selected customer sets a weighting value;
• means for ranking said desired outcomes associated with said selected process and said selected customer sets, whereby said desired outcome ranking is dependent upon said customer set weighting values and said importance and satisfaction factors such that desired outcomes identified as important yet unsatisfied are ranked higher than desired outcomes identified as unimportant or satisfied;
• means for prioritizing said predictive metrics in terms of the degree to which said predictive metrics predict the satisfaction of said desired outcomes associated with said selected customer sets and said selected process, whereby those predictive metrics which predict satisfaction of said ranked desired outcomes are quantified and prioritized;
• means for defining a plurality of process specific strategic options, each of said strategic options designed to satisfy said customer desired outcomes;
• means for quantifying the degree to which each of said strategic options satisfy said customer desired outcomes;
• and
• means for presenting the degree to which each of said strategic options satisfies said customer desired outcomes to allow the user to select an optimal strategic option, prior to implementation of any strategic option.

A computer-readable medium of instructions for evaluating business strategies using a computer, to allow a user to create and select an optimal business strategy, prior to implementation of any business strategy said computer having data storage means, input means, output means, and processing means, said computer-readable medium of instructions comprising:

• a database contained within said data storage means including data obtained from conducting interviews of a statistically representative sample of individual customers from a plurality of said discrete customer sets, whereby desired outcomes, identifying benefits that each customer set values, are elicited and stored in said database in discrete files corresponding to said customer sets, each of said desired outcomes having an assigned importance factor and an assigned satisfaction factor, each of said desired outcomes free from any solution or specification and remaining stable over time;
• means for user selecting a plurality of customer sets for analysis;
• means for assigning weighting values to said selected customer sets thereby positively or negatively weighting the influence of each of said selected customer sets;
• computer program means for cumulatively ranking said desired outcomes in terms of importance and satisfaction whereby desired outcomes identified as important yet unsatisfied are ranked high while desired outcomes identified as unimportant or satisfied are ranked low, said cumulative ranking being dependent upon said customer set weighting;
• a database including predictive metrics for each of said desired outcomes identified by each of said customer sets contained within said data storage means, each of said predictive metrics comprising measurable parameters for satisfying, with certainty, at least one of said desired outcomes, each of said predictive metrics assigned scaled indicators for each of said desired outcomes, said scaled indicators representing a degree to which a predictive metric predicts satisfaction of a particular customer desired outcome;
• computer program means for prioritizing said predictive metrics using matrix analysis, said prioritization dependent upon said cumulative ranking of desired outcomes and dependent upon said predictive metric scaled indicators whereby the predictive metrics which predict satisfaction of high ranked desired outcomes are assigned a high priority while the predictive metrics which predict satisfaction of low ranked desired outcomes are assigned a low priority;
• output means for displaying a list of said predictive metrics prioritized in terms of normalized importance relative to said ranked desired outcomes;
• input means for enabling a user to define a plurality of strategic options;
• computer program means for evaluating each of said defined strategic options in terms of the degree to which each defined strategic options satisfies said desired outcomes;
• and
• means for presenting the degree to which each defined strategic options satisfies said desired outcomes to allow the user to select an optimal strategic option, prior to implementation of any option.