DigiHerit: Enhancing Cultural Heritage Education Through Gamified Mobile Exploration

Digital technologies can provide alternative forms of access to cultural heritage sites that are physically restricted or unavailable to the public; however, their effective transformation into meaningful educational experiences requires the coordination of documentation, spatial representation, interpretation, interaction, and engagement. This study presents DigiHerit, a mobile gamified application developed for the digitally reconstructed Lassani Mansion in Kozani, Greece, and uses its implementation as the empirical basis for proposing a case-derived methodological framework for access-restricted architectural heritage. The implemented workflow combined spatial documentation, three-dimensional reconstruction and optimization, real-time application development, educational content integration, gamification, and user evaluation. Through retrospective analysis of the development process, seven interconnected methodological stages were identified, with Spatial Interpretation introduced as an explicit link between documentation and subsequent reconstruction and experience-design decisions. User evaluation with 30 participants suggests positive perceptions of digital access, engagement, learning, and exploration, while also identifying areas for improvement in navigation and content delivery. The study demonstrates how a case-specific technical workflow can inform a broader design methodology without prescribing particular technologies. The resulting framework is proposed as a case-derived structure for further prospective testing and refinement across different access-restricted heritage contexts and emerging modes of digital experience.