Purpose: This study develops heuristic process capability indices (PCIs) using distribution-decomposition methods and evaluates the performances. The heuristic methods decompose the variation of a quality characteristic into upper and lower deviations and adjust the value of the PCIs using decomposed deviations in accordance with the skewness. The weighted variance(WV), new WV(NWV), scaled WV(SWV), and weighted standard deviation(WSD) methods are considered. Methods: The performances of the heuristic PCIs are investigated under the varied situations such as various skewed distributions, sample sizes, and specifications. Results: WV PCI is the best under the normal populations, WSD and SWV PCIs are the best under the low skewed populations, NWV PCI is the best under the moderate and high skewed populations. Conclusion: Comprehensive analysis shows that the NWV method is most adequate for a practical use.