The Co-evolution of Design and User Requirements in Knowledge Management Systems: The Case of Patent Management Systems

Do the design requirements of a knowledge management system change over time? If so, how do these changes affect the users of the system? In this paper we explore the case of patent management systems (PAMS) to identify changes in information system design and user requirements over a 200 year period. Using a design science approach, we study 30 different implementations of PAMS across different design configurations and use scenarios. We find that while early forms of PAMS persist in updated system implementations, new design configurations co-evolved with new user requirements. We conclude by suggesting that this co-evolutionary path is not unique to PAMS and suggest that a similar co-evolution is driving the development of new World Wide Web technologies