Sysiphus: Combining system modeling with collaboration and rationale

Sysiphus, a suite of tools developed at the Technische Universität München [3,1], enables users to develop and share system models and to discuss, justify, and collaborate within the same environment. On the one hand, users create model elements (e.g., use cases, subsystem decompositions, class models, test specifications) and organize them into documents. On the other hand, they discuss models informally using discussion threads, extract design decisions into more formal rationales, and plan and track their work using action items. Discussion threads, rationales, and action items are linked to the relevant model elements, capturing the context in which decisions are made. The originality of sysiphus is that it puts equal importance on system modeling, collaboration, and rationale.