Crafting Digital Experiences: Embedding Human-Centred and Participatory Design into Archaeological Practice

As digital archaeology has grown as a field of practice, so has the number of digital resources developed for specialists and nonspecialists alike. However, the creation of such outputs has not always been accompanied and informed by design theory and practices. Design—used in its broadest definition as a process of conceptual making—is an integral, if often implicit, part of archaeological practices and it is through design that we develop and share our work—from data collection and analysis to interpretation and dissemination—and engage with our stakeholders. Engaging with core design practices offers meaningful opportunities for generating new forms of archaeological knowledge production and sharing, as well as creating digitally mediated experiences that are not guided by our own assumptions about our stakeholders’ needs and can really affect people’s engagement with the past. In this article, I investigate the benefits of embedding Human-Centred and Participatory Design into the archaeology and heritage sectors to create more critically engaged digital encounters with the past.