Abstract
The major focus of recent knowledge acquisition research has been on problem-solving methods (PSM). This paper present results where a PSM developed for classification has been extended to handle a configuration or parametric design task, designing ion chromatography methods in analytical chemistry. Surprisingly good results have been obtained seemingly because any knowledge that has been added to the knowledge base, has been added precisely to overcome any limitations of the PSM. These results suggest a trade-off between domain knowledge and the power of the PSM and that greater use of domain knowledge would facilitate re-use by allowing PSMs to be used for a broader range of tasks.