Knowledge management systems fail because people do not add information to them. Why? It has something to do with “The Last User Interface Mile”. Most people think interface has something to do with how the buttons are laid out and whether you have written clear labels. It is actually much more.
The real issue is workflow. Information systems of any sort add an extra layer to any task. There's a level of indirection. You don't just do the task you set out to do. Instead, you interact with a system. The end result of the interaction is supposed to be what you set out to do.
So, in a knowledge management system, you may set out to ask a question of a group of people or contribute an observation. In real life, you just ask the question. Maybe there is an answer, maybe not. But, the cost is low. In the knowledge management system, you have a lot of extra steps. You may have to authenticate yourself to a computer system. The system may be built so that it only works with certain proprietary software made by Microsoft, requiring steep licensing fees for access. You may be asked to supply a category for your question, something that you may not really think about explicitly in most circumstances; the categories may be arbitrarily set.
Suddenly, to just ask a question or contribute a piece of knowledge, you have a lot of extra steps and hurdles. People don't contribute to knowledge management systems because they do not have the time for all of this. It's that simple.
The on-ramp has to be super simple.
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