Analytic Hierarchy Process
Design a pairwise-comparison questionnaire, collect expert judgements on the Saaty scale, and rank alternatives using transparent AHP calculations.
Why use this tool?
Use this tool when a decision has several criteria and several alternatives that need structured expert judgement.
It estimates criterion weights, alternative scores under each criterion, overall ranking, and consistency ratios for the expert judgements.
Define criteria such as cost, quality, risk, and implementation time, then compare alternatives pairwise under each criterion.
The top-ranked alternative has the highest weighted score. High consistency ratios suggest the comparisons should be reviewed before acting.
1. Questionnaire Design
Create the AHP decision structure before sending it to experts.
2. Expert Survey
Import a questionnaire JSON, complete the pairwise comparisons, and export the expert response.
3. AHP Analysis
Load one or more completed expert response JSON files to calculate weights, consistency, and alternative ranking.
About Analytic Hierarchy Process
Analytic Hierarchy Process is a structured method for multi-criteria decision-making. It asks experts to compare criteria and alternatives in pairs, converts those judgements into priority weights, and combines the weights into an overall ranking.
Guidance
- Define the decision goal, criteria, and alternatives in the questionnaire design section.
- Export the blank questionnaire JSON and send it to the expert or decision-maker.
- The expert imports the questionnaire, answers each pairwise question, and exports the completed response JSON.
- Load one or more completed response files into the analysis section and calculate the ranking.
- Review consistency ratios before using the ranking to support a decision.
Methodology, Assumptions, and Limitations
The tool builds reciprocal pairwise matrices, estimates priorities using the geometric mean method, and combines alternative weights using the weighted sum of criterion priorities.
CR = CI / RI, where CI = (λmax - n) / (n - 1). A ratio around 0.10 or lower is often treated as acceptable guidance.
Ratings use 1 equal, 2 equal to moderate, 3 moderate, 4 moderate to strong, 5 strong, 6 strong to very strong, 7 very strong, 8 very strong to extreme, and 9 extreme preference.
Experts can make meaningful pairwise judgements, criteria are relevant to the decision, and alternatives are comparable under each criterion.
AHP supports structured judgement but does not remove bias. Poorly defined criteria or inconsistent responses can produce misleading rankings.
FAQ
What is the Saaty scale?
It is a 1 to 9 judgement scale used for pairwise comparison. A value of 1 means equal importance or preference, while 9 means extreme importance or preference.
Can several experts answer the same questionnaire?
Yes. Send the same questionnaire JSON to each expert, then load multiple completed response files in the analysis section. The tool aggregates judgements using a geometric mean.
What does consistency ratio mean?
It checks whether the pairwise comparisons are reasonably coherent. A high consistency ratio means the expert should review the answers before the ranking is used.
Is my survey data uploaded?
No. This tool reads, calculates, and exports JSON files in the browser. No server upload is used by this static page.