From “folklore” to “living design memory”

We identify an important type of software design knowledge that we call community specific folklore and show problems with current approaches to managing it. We built a tool that serves as a living design memory for a large software development organization. The tool delivers knowledge to developers effectively and is embedded in organizational practice to ensure that the knowledge it contains evolves as necessary. This work illustrates important lessons in building knowledge management systems, integrating novel technology into organizational practice, and managing research-development partnerships.