Adding interaction to decision making support tools : What can be learned from the Capitalization Table

Abstract: The capitalization table is the system that aids companies in keeping ownership data. The current norm is a simple spreadsheet that does not provide for all the needed functionalities. This thesis investigates how designing a new interactive capitalization table can add knowledge to the broader area of interactive decision making support tools. The iterative design process carried out in this thesis is user based, with qualitative interviews, prototyping and user testing as main methods. Rather than merely the final design, the crucial point in this thesis is the knowledge that can be obtained from the case in hand, the ways it can be used to motivate design choices and how these can be transferred to similar systems that aid decision making. It can be concluded that enabling safe simulation and adding visual support are two crucial paradigms that add value to a decision support system.