Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T02:31:20.647Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

CoMem: Designing an interaction experience for reuse of rich contextual knowledge from a corporate memory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2002

R. FRUCHTER
Affiliation:
Director of Project Based Learning Lab, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
P. DEMIAN
Affiliation:
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

Abstract

Managing and reusing knowledge in architecture, engineering, and construction firms can lead to greater competitive advantage, improved designs, and more effective management of constructed facilities. However, reuse often fails because knowledge is not captured; it is captured out of context, rendering it not reusable; or there are no formal mechanisms for finding and retrieving reusable knowledge. This paper presents ongoing research on design knowledge reuse that introduces the notion of knowledge in context from a corporate perspective. We argue that in order for knowledge to be reusable, the user should be able to see the rich context in which this knowledge was originally created and interact with it. We call a repository of such knowledge in context the corporate memory. We describe empirical observations of designers reusing knowledge from their personal design experiences. Based on these observations, we formalize two key activities in the process of knowledge reuse from a corporate repository: finding reusable items and understanding these items in context. We formalize six degrees of exploration that lead to understanding. We describe a prototype system, CoMem, that supports these activities. CoMem is distinguished from the document-centric state of practice solutions by its approach of “overview first, zoom and filter, and then details on demand.” In order to accomplish this approach we propose three metaphors: corporate map, fisheye lens, and storyteller. These metaphors and their implementation in CoMem are illustrated using an industry scenario.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)