The spec says what shipped. Kept keeps why.
Inheriting a product area means six weeks of asking why until someone finally knows.
Read the film transcript
Narration from this original film. Soft instrumental music plays underneath.
The research is in one folder, the decision in another, and the link between them in someone’s head.
You defend last quarter’s cut in every planning meeting because the interviews behind it are buried.
Kept is a voice interview. June calls, asks about your work, and keeps what you say, in your words, in a jar that’s yours.
Planning comes round and someone asks why export was cut. Kept answers with the interview count and cites your call.
The interviews behind the cut are one question away. Kept. Keep the knowledge behind the work.
The documents describe the feature. The reasoning lives in whoever was in the room: why the flow bends there, what the churned customer said, which experiment quietly settled the debate. Every handoff loses a layer, until the area runs on cargo cult and confident guessing.
Kept interviews the people who shaped the area and keeps their reasoning as cited, searchable memory. New PMs ramp from the actual why. Revisits start from what was learned, not from scratch. You see what is covered. Nobody is graded on it.
Keeping a knowledge item does not promise permanent access to its original transcript. Sources can become unavailable after retention or removal. Check what evidence is available before relying on an answer.
Read personal and workspace controls. The overview above is available as text; explore the guided text walkthrough for a step-by-step example.