Pairwise Comparison Chart Instructions

Aaron T. Aoyama
When creating a design objectives tree, it is necessary to determine the "weight factors" that are assigned to each sub-function as shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Example objectives tree for deciding on an optimum vehicle design.

These weight factors are the relative importance of each design factor. One methodical method of determining these weight factors is to use a pairwise comparison chart. An sample Microsoft Excel template has been provided, but you are also welcome to create your own! 1) Identify the different design factors (sub-functions) that are important to consider when selecting an optimal design. Cost, safety, aesthetics, etc. 2) In an Excel sheet, place each design factors in a row across the top of the chart, and in the column on the left side in the same sequential order. In the template, these factors are initially labeled A, B, C, etc. Also, because the file was created for up to 8 design factors, there is a column on the left that is used to toggle whether or not the Excel sheet should use the corresponding factor or not.

Figure 2: Inputting design factors into pairwise comparison chart template. Factors F, G, and H are unused

3) Next, you have to compare the importance of each factor in relation to the others. Decide on a scale factor to use for comparisons. The Excel templates assumes that the scoring ranges from zero to the number inputted. Compare each row factor to each column factor, giving a score in the appropriate cell. For example, on a scale from 0 to 10, a 5 might mean that the row factor is equally important to the column factor. A higher score means the row factor is more important than the column factor, and vice versa with lower scores. In the Excel template, input the scale factor and comparison scores in the yellow boxes shown in Figure 3. 4) Add up the values in each row to get the total score for that design factor. Divide each individual design factor score with the summation of the total points for all design factors in order to normalize the results. These normalized values are the weight functions. In the Excel template, this is done automatically, and you will notice that toggling a factor as unused will automatically exclude it from these calculations. Weight functions are given in the blue boxes seen in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Scoring the factors against each other and calculating weight factors

For your design objectives tree, you use these values to weigh the scores that you give the design variations based on each design factor. So if Design 1 scores a 9 on Cost, and Cost has a weight of 0.26, you would multiply the score (9) by the weight (0.26) to get a weighted value of 2.34. The Excel template lets you input your design scores in the yellow boxes, and calculates the weighted total scores for each of three design variations as shown in Figure 4. Best score wins!

Figure 4: Weighted design score calculations