Towards a reference architecture for the design of mobile shared workspaces

Software design is a complex and expensive socio-technical process, for which reuse is an increasingly important concern. This article presents an abstract structure capturing the essence of a mobile shared workspace (MSW), and how a particular MSW can be obtained by instantiating such a structure. It is intended to assist designers of mobile groupware tools to conceive new products reusing design knowledge proved successful in previous solutions. The article also illustrates how the abstract structure can be instantiated to obtain MSWs that support construction inspection activities, hospital work and urban emergency responses. This abstract structure can be evolved in order to make it a reference architecture for mobile shared workspaces.