Comparing Knowledge Codification Approaches: An Empirical Study

The knowledge acquired by the members of a software organization is one of its most important assets. Therefore, the proper management of this knowledge has become a real need in the software development industry. One of the approaches to encourage knowledge transfer is its adequate formalization. This method can facilitate knowledge learning and usage. However, knowledge formalization is not trivial and there are several related strategies. This paper presents a qualitative study, in which we compared two knowledge codification support strategies: ABC-Pattern and Mind Map. The results indicate that the participants had a preference in using the ABC-Pattern approach due to its usage and utility. We identified some of the reasons for this preference: a) more codification detail, b) a more detailed description of the knowledgeâs scenario which is more clarifying, c) the possibility of acquiring more information with less effort, and d) the possibility of describing both the problem and the solution.