A method for designing, deploying, optimizing or maintaining a communications network or communications networks, comprising the steps of: providing: a computerized model which represents a physical environment in which a communications network is or will be installed, said computerized model providing a display of at least a portion of said physical environment, performance attributes for a plurality of system components which are used in said physical environment, one or more prediction models which use the computerized model and the performance attributes of specific components of said plurality of components to predict performance characteristics of said communications network, actual performance measurements taken from said physical environment at one or more locations during one or more measurement runs, and cost data associated with the installation, procurement, and maintenance of said communications network; selecting (110, 210, 310) specific components from said plurality of system components for use in said communications network; displaying (160, 260, 350) a computer representation of said physical environment using said computerized model, said computer representation showing locations of specific components selected in said selecting step within said physical environment and performance information for one or more locations within said physical environment, said performance information presented at said one or more locations in the form of one or more icons showing: a comparison of actual performance measurements to predicted performance values; a comparison of actual performance measurements taken during two or more measurement runs; or a comparison of at least two different predictions made with at least two different simulations; wherein each icon functions as a watch point representing a location in the physical environment for each comparison. providing: a computerized model which represents a physical environment in which a communications network is or will be installed, said computerized model providing a display of at least a portion of said physical environment, performance attributes for a plurality of system components which are used in said physical environment, one or more prediction models which use the computerized model and the performance attributes of specific components of said plurality of components to predict performance characteristics of said communications network, actual performance measurements taken from said physical environment at one or more locations during one or more measurement runs, and cost data associated with the installation, procurement, and maintenance of said communications network; a computerized model which represents a physical environment in which a communications network is or will be installed, said computerized model providing a display of at least a portion of said physical environment, performance attributes for a plurality of system components which are used in said physical environment, one or more prediction models which use the computerized model and the performance attributes of specific components of said plurality of components to predict performance characteristics of said communications network, actual performance measurements taken from said physical environment at one or more locations during one or more measurement runs, and cost data associated with the installation, procurement, and maintenance of said communications network; selecting (110, 210, 310) specific components from said plurality of system components for use in said communications network; displaying (160, 260, 350) a computer representation of said physical environment using said computerized model, said computer representation showing locations of specific components selected in said selecting step within said physical environment and performance information for one or more locations within said physical environment, said performance information presented at said one or more locations in the form of one or more icons showing: a comparison of actual performance measurements to predicted performance values; a comparison of actual performance measurements taken during two or more measurement runs; or a comparison of at least two different predictions made with at least two different simulations; a comparison of actual performance measurements to predicted performance values; a comparison of actual performance measurements taken during two or more measurement runs; or a comparison of at least two different predictions made with at least two different simulations; wherein each icon functions as a watch point representing a location in the physical environment for each comparison.