Engineering the creative co-design of augmented digital experiences with cultural heritage

Abstract

Ubiquitous and tangible computing is opening a new panorama for interactive applications in different domains including cultural heritage. To ideate augmented experiences that provide more enjoyable, intrinsically motivating and memorable user experiences, design thinking methods that fuel the imagination and creativity of designers are required. This design can also take profit from software engineering approaches aimed at putting rationality concepts in practice. In this paper we advocate that such complex interactive (eco)systems require a mixed approach where the benefits of both disciplines are taken into account. It is not a question of design thinking versus software engineering, but a challenge to face the process both as people-values-centered and as quality-centered. This was the motivation of the CoDICE (COdesigning DIgital Cultural Encounters) software tool that supports situated, collocated and distributed tasks and adds persistence and traceability to the co-design outcomes so that the design rationale behind the products can be made explicit.