The general availability of a robust communication infrastructure facilitates and encourages the connection between everything and anything (Internet of Things-IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems-CPS). The composition of CPSs is a reality. Every day new systems are created from arrangements of legacy systems, referred to as CP system of systems (CPSoS). The constituent systems of a CPSoS have very peculiar characteristics, which hinder traditional systems engineering techniques. In addition, it is common for these systems to present many intangible aspects, which further increases the complexity, especially in the representation of their design. This work proposes EMBED-SoSE, an approach to the engineering of critical systems based on shared visual thinking, which aims to facilitate and reduce the cognitive effort in the systems design process.