CAMEL: A Tool for Collaborative Distributed Software Design

Software design activities require rich communication channels where developers can exchange information in multiple ways. It is well established that geographic distribution impacts negatively on the effectiveness of design meetings. In this paper, we present a tool for supporting virtual software design meetings. The features of the tool address four fundamental challenges identified from the literature: (1) information sharing, conflict resolution and development of consensus among geographically distributed designers, (2) availability of sufficient and organizable drawing surfaces for graphical representations, (3) developing shared understanding and managing focus during the discussion and (4) appropriate capturing and storing of all design-relevant information.