An effective method for keeping design artifacts up-to-date

A major problem in the software development process is that design documents are rarely kept up-to-date with the implementation, and thus become irrelevant for extracting test plans or reviews. Furthermore, design documents tend to become very long and often impossible to review and comprehend. This paper describes an experimental method conducted in a development group at IBM. The group uses a Wikipedia-like process to maintain design documents, while taking measures to keep them up-to- date and in use, and thus relevant. The method uses a wiki enhanced with hierarchal glossaries of terms to maintain design artifacts. Initial results indicate that these enhancements are successful and assist in the creation of more effective design documents. We maintained a large portion of the groups´ design documents in use and relevant over a period of three months. Additionally, by archiving artifacts that were not in use, we were able to validate that they were no longer relevant.