Experience-oriented knowledge organisation for the transference of scientific knowledge from universities to SMEs

Transferring scientific knowledge between universities and industry is known to be problematic, specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have limited resources and absorption capacity. A variety of channels is used for knowledge transfer. These include what is commonly referred to as generic pathways (e.g. scientific publications) and relational pathways (e.g. faculty consulting). The purpose of this research is to extend our knowledge about the design of knowledge organization for a generic pathway interface providing access to scientific knowledge and publications registered in an university research information management system. The analysis focuses on how to meet the characteristics of SMEs in the design and organisation of the subject terms in the navigation and searching system and in the presentation of the scientific knowledge. The design suggestions are based on findings from a qualitative situation analysis of eight SMEs and on the principles of experience design. Experience design principles have been applied, because the classical design qualities such as completeness, consistency, and recency seem not to be sufficient goals for the knowledge organisation system for a generic pathway interface. The paper provides examples and discusses how the experience dimensions have been applied in the design of the knowledge organisation.