Inclusive Participation Design Methodologies for Digital Cultural Heritage

The European cultural and historical heritage contains a surprising richness and variety that places it, thanks to its multi-diversity and heterogeneity, among the most interesting territories at international level. As a result of the scarcity of accessible technical equipment [1] and lack of time or availability to physically visit each Cultural Heritages, the knowledge of the European cultural heritage is not as widespread as it deserves. For this reason, a highly skilled work team with heterogeneous skills and approaches, has been created. Through the INCEPTION project, this team is developing inclusive methodologies with the aim to increase the dissemination and the knowledge of the historical cultural heritage through a web platform. The paper describes how it has been possible to model and apply some of the principles of the Human Centered Design in an international design research project in order to promote the accessibility of the digitized cultural heritage, through the involvement of institutional subjects. Moreover, the authors illustrate how co-design represents a valid method of work planning and a methodological design tool that allows a productive cooperation between different demanding profiles in the field of Digital Cultural Heritage.