Issue-based information system

The elements of IBIS are: issues (questions that need to be answered), each of which are associated with (answered by) alternative positions (possible answers or ideas), which are associated with arguments which support or object to a given position; arguments that support a position are called "pros", and arguments that object to a position are called "cons". In the course of the treatment of issues, new issues come up which are treated likewise. and Horst Rittel described the overall purpose of IBIS as follows: IBIS notation has been used, along with function analysis diagram (FAD) notation, as an aid for root cause analysis. ==Issue mapping==

IBIS notation is used in issue mapping, an argument visualization technique closely related to argument mapping. In dialogue mapping, a person called a facilitator uses IBIS notation to record a group conversation, while it is happening, on a "shared display" (usually a video projector). The facilitator listens to the conversation, and summarizes the ideas mentioned in the conversation on the shared display using IBIS notation, and if possible "validates" the map often by checking with the group to make sure each recorded element accurately represents the group's thinking. Users of dialogue mapping have reported that dialogue mapping, under certain conditions, can improve the efficiency of meetings by reducing unnecessary redundancy and digressions in conversations, among other benefits. A dialogue map does not aim to be as formal as, for example, a logic diagram or decision tree, but rather aims to be a comprehensive display of all the ideas that people shared during a conversation. although dialogue mapping is also well suited to situations that are too complex and context-dependent for an algorithmic approach to decision-making. ==History==

Rittel's interest lay in the area of public policy and planning, which is also the context in which he and his colleagues defined wicked problems. So it is no surprise that Kunz and Rittel envisaged IBIS as the "type of information system meant to support the work of cooperatives like governmental or administrative agencies or committees, planning groups, etc., that are confronted with a problem complex in order to arrive at a plan for decision". A renewed interest in IBIS-type systems came about in the following decade, when advances in technology made it possible to design relatively inexpensive, computer-based IBIS-type systems. By 1983, Raymond McCall and colleagues had implemented a version of IBIS called PHIBIS (procedurally hierarchical IBIS) in personal computer software called MIKROPLIS (microcomputer-based planning and information system), which was described as an information system for "professional problem solvers—including planners, designers and scientists". In 1987, Douglas E. Noble completed a computer-supported IBIS program as part of his doctoral dissertation. Jeff Conklin and co-workers adapted the IBIS structure for use in software engineering, creating the gIBIS (graphical IBIS) hypertext system in the late 1980s. In the 1990s, architecture researchers experimented with enhancing IBIS with a fuzzy reasoning system. Several other graphical IBIS-type systems were developed once it was realised that such systems facilitated collaborative design and problem solving. These efforts culminated in the creation of the open source Compendium (software) tool which supports—among other things—a graphical IBIS notation. Another IBIS tool that integrates with Microsoft SharePoint is called Glyma. and designVUE. Since the mid-2000s, there has been a renewed interest in IBIS-type systems, particularly in the context of sensemaking and collaborative problem solving in a variety of social and technical contexts. Of particular note is the facilitation method called dialogue mapping which uses the IBIS notation to map out a design (or any other) dialogue as it evolves. The discussion trees in D-Agree, inspired by IBIS, contain a combination of four types of elements: issues, ideas, pros, and cons. The software extracts a discussion's structure in real time based on IBIS, automatically classifying all the sentences. ==See also==