Prototypes as assets, not toys. Why and how to extract knowledge from prototypes. (Experience report)

Software prototypes are becoming more and more important, as computer applications invade new domains and as personal prototyping environments become more powerful. Although numerous approaches recommend their use, prototypes are sometimes treated like their developers' personal toys, and little effort is made to extract and share the experiences and knowledge that emerged as a by-product of building the prototype. In this paper, a strategy is proposed to extract crucial pieces of knowledge from a prototype and from its developer. The strategy is based on monitoring explanations that developers give, analyzing their structure, and feeding results back to support and to focus explanations. During this process, the prototype turns into the centerpiece of a hyperstructured information base, which can be used to convey concepts, implementation tricks and experiences. If organizations begin to view-and treat-prototypes as executable representations of knowledge, they can fully capitalize on the assets prototypes really are.