ABSTRACT
For a number of years we created software-based design environments solely to support individual designers. Recently, however, we turned our attention to the problem of supporting long-term collaboration. This takes place when an artifact functions and is repeatedly redesigned over a relatively long period of time (e.g., many years). Such artifacts are increasingly common in a wide range of domains, including the design of buildings, space-based habitats, software, and computer networks—to name a few that we have looked at.
