An approach to the design of knowledge-based systems

The issue how to achieve a principled transition from knowledge acquisition to implementation such that a knowledge-based system (kbs) of high quality results is rarely discussed in the knowledge engineering literature. Here, this topic is addressed in the context of the design phase of the MIKE approach to kbs development. In MIKE, design decisions are motivated primarily by non-functional requirements. Due to the iterative nature of the design process, design decisions have to be evaluated early. In MIKE, this can be achieved by experimental prototyping, but also by quantitative measures associated to requirements. Furthermore, in order to improve transparency and traceability, the description of the design includes a record of the design decisions and their motivation in addition to a description of the artefact. DesignKARL is sketched as the formalism for expressing these aspects.