How Does PortBlue Capture Expert Know-How?

PortBlue applications represent a powerful new knowledge format developed using a well-defined, repeatable process.



PortBlue's application development process is guided by three principles:

1. Focus on End-Products

   PortBlue begins the design of every application by identifying appropriate starting and end points. Isolating the end point bounds the topic area, focuses expert collaboration, and clearly defines the products that the applications must deliver. In addition, a clear understanding of the end point demarcates the solution space as well as helps identify the variables that the user will employ to navigate through it. To date, PortBlue has identified five decision process archetypes within the spectrum from the open-ended process to specific solution. Applications combine different elements of each of these archetypes, allowing PortBlue to rapidly identify logical end points and construct applications.

2. Use Expert Time Efficiently

   PortBlue utilizes three primary techniques to work efficiently with experts. First, PortBlue makes extensive use of pre-existing intellectual property -- documents and analytical tools -- to populate the application. Second, PortBlue employs a set of interview techniques that structure work sessions efficiently. Third, once the overall structure of the application has been determined, PortBlue leverages the expert's "lieutenants" (senior manager-level personnel) to produce module pages that are reviewed more efficiently by the expert in structured work sessions.

3. Easy to Learn Process

   PortBlue has created a process that allows a typical business analyst to create modules in a matter of weeks by focusing on "knowledge elements" common in business decision-making. The process enables an analyst to deconstruct complicated problems into interrelated component parts, interview and communicate with leading thinkers, and express complex thinking.