About

What is DESDEO and multiobjective optimization?

DESDEO is an open source software framework for interactive multiobjective optimization. Interactive methods are tools to support decision-making in problems with multiple conflicting objective functions, or in other words, multiobjective optimization problems. These problems have multiple optimal solutions, known as Pareto optimal solutions, which are represented by numerical vectors, and are therefore incomparable on a mathematical basis alone. To find the best solution among the Pareto optimal ones, preferences from a decision maker can be utilized.

Interactive methods in multiobjective optimization

Interactive methods are iterative by nature where a decision maker (who has substance knowledge about the problem being solved) can direct the solution process with one's preference information to find the most preferred balance between the objectives. In interactive methods, the amount of information to be considered at a time is limited and, thus, the cognitive load set on the decision maker is not too demanding. Furthermore, the decision maker learns about the interdependencies among the objectives and also the feasibility of their preferences.

Mission

The mission of DESDEO is to increase awareness of the benefits of interactive methods, and make interactive methods readily available and applicable. Thanks to the open architecture, interactive methods are easier to be utilized and further developed. The framework consists of reusable components that can be utilized for implementing new methods or modifying the existing methods. The framework is released under a permissive open source license.

The research team behind DESDEO

DESDEO has been an ongoing project driven forward by the Multiobjective Optimization group at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. Many current and past members of the team have contributed to DESDEO.

To lean mor about the research team behind DESDEO, feel free to visit their website.

Where to go from here?

If none of the above made sense to you, then do not worry! This documentation provides a primer on multiobjective optimization to get anyone with a basic understanding on mathematics and optimization quickly up to date about interactive multiobjective optimization and interactive methods are. The primer can be accessed here.

If you are a seasoned veteran on multiobjective optimization, and you want to start contributing to DESDEO right away, this documentation provides a tutorial on that here.