The DES Metric Stack™: A Foundational Evaluation Architecture for Decision Systems

The DES Metric Stack™ is a layered evaluation architecture introduced within Decision Engineering Science™ for the structural analysis of decision systems. It provides a formal framework for assessing the integrity of decision architectures prior to and beyond traditional performance-based evaluation. Contemporary decision systems—particularly those based on artificial intelligence, optimization, and predictive modeling—are typically evaluated using metrics such as accuracy, efficiency, or reward maximization. While these metrics capture outcome performance, they do not assess the structural conditions under which decisions are generated. As a result, systems may exhibit high performance while remaining structurally fragile, misaligned, or prone to systemic failure. The DES Metric Stack™ addresses this limitation by introducing a hierarchical evaluation model composed of six interdependent layers, each corresponding to a distinct dimension of decision architecture integrity: Layer 0 — Ontological Integrity (OII): evaluates the completeness and correctness of the state space representation. Layer 1 — Structural Coherence (SCI): assesses alignment between objectives, constraints, and system structure. Layer 2 — Predictive Consistency (PCI): measures the stability and reliability of predictive models under environmental variation. Layer 3 — Optimization Stability (OSI): evaluates the robustness of optimization processes and their sensitivity to perturbations. Layer 4 — Cognitive Risk Exposure (CRI): quantifies systemic risk arising from feedback loops, volatility amplification, and constraint violations. Layer 5 — Regenerative Capacity (RCI): measures the system’s ability to adapt, absorb shocks, and recover from disturbances. These layers form a hierarchical architecture in which lower layers define structural preconditions for higher-level processes. Weaknesses at foundational levels propagate through the system, affecting predictive reliability, optimization behavior, and systemic risk exposure. The outputs of the DES Metric Stack™ are aggregated through the Decision Quality Index (DQI), a composite metric representing the overall structural integrity of the decision system. Unlike traditional performance indicators, the DQI evaluates the conditions under which decisions are produced rather than the outcomes of individual decisions. The DES Metric Stack™ is designed to be: modular, allowing domain-specific extensions without altering the core architecture, diagnostic, supporting pre-optimization evaluation of decision systems, scalable, applicable across domains including finance, enterprise AI, digital platforms, and public systems, governance-aligned, enabling integration into risk management and regulatory frameworks. By shifting the focus from algorithmic performance to architectural integrity, the DES Metric Stack™ establishes a foundational framework for the systematic evaluation of decision systems in complex environments.