Extracting Experience through Protocol Analysis

Protocol Analysis provides a means for extracting a person’s thoughts while they are performing a task. This paper used this method for generating an index of keywords based on the transcript generated through protocol analysis of an engineer working on a design project. An algorithm for processing such a body of text is described. The means for analyzing the index to form a network of keywords is introduced through the use of an illustration. The illustration is taken from a designer working on a new compressor for a gas turbine engine. The use of such an index is compared to similar indices generated using formal documentation, and the impact this would have on knowledge management systems is discussed.