Studying a community of volunteers at a historic cemetery to inspire interaction concepts

Abstract

We present empirical fieldwork conducted in collaboration with a local community of cultural heritage volunteers at the historic Sheffield General Cemetery, in order to inform and realise concepts for interactive installations. The volunteers take care of the site and of its visitors and perform a variety of important activities for preservation and outreach. With the purpose of co-envisioning and co-designing novel technological interventions to support the volunteers in engaging visitors and communicating the heritage site to the public, we have embarked on collaboration with the Cemetery Trust. In this paper we describe a particular study, conducted to glean an understanding of the volunteers' practices, concerns and strategies. We conclude by presenting a number of interaction concepts developed as part of co-design workshops and brainstorming sessions involving the volunteers that address their concerns and needs.