Upwelling – Combining real-time collaboration with version control for writers

Upwelling is an experimental writing editor designed for professional nonfiction teams, including journalists, academics, and editors. Its premise is that common tools force a tradeoff: cloud editors offer live collaboration but can make writers feel watched or interrupted, while separate files protect private drafting but create version confusion, slow handoffs, and difficult merges. Interviews with writers and editors also highlighted the need for accountable review, especially when accuracy and editorial approval matter. Upwelling combines real-time collaboration with ideas from version control so contributors can draft privately, share work when ready, and bring separate contributions together under review.

The design centers on drafts and layers that can diverge and later converge, rather than requiring every change to appear immediately to everyone. The project treats editors and reviewers as active participants in deciding which changes enter the shared document, and aims to make changes easier to inspect and reject while reducing clashes between collaborators. Its findings emphasize that writers need control over when their work becomes visible, and that both live and asynchronous collaboration are useful. Automatic merging helps but cannot replace human review; avoiding conflicts in the first place matters, as do meaningful grouping of keystrokes and independent draft layers. The team presents Upwelling as an exploratory system, with future work planned on permissions, viewing drafts, interface improvements, and support for varied workflows.