Tacit and Explicit Understanding

This was my doctoral dissertation in computer science at the University of Colorado. It was entitled: Interpretation in Design: The Problem of Tacit and Explicit Understanding in Computer Support of Cooperative Design and was defended on August 5 1993. The dissertation explored the implications of the theory of tacit knowledge for the problem of computer capture of design rationale. It discussed a software system for design by teams of NASA designers. The computer environment captured design ideas in a flexible system of professional perspectives. This research led to explorations after graduation in prototyping collaboration software incorporating mechanisms to support perspectives and negotiation.