Digital Bricolage: Design Speculations for Embodied Approaches to Digitized Print-based Cultural Collections

TL;DR

This paper explores how digital interfaces for print-based collections can incorporate embodied, tactile experiences by leveraging material qualities, proposing a design approach called digital bricolage to enhance user engagement.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of digital bricolage, emphasizing material engagement and speculative design to improve digital access to print collections.

Findings

Digital bricolage fosters embodied exploration of collections.

Creative professionals see value in material-based digital interactions.

Speculative design reveals new opportunities for tactile digital interfaces.

Abstract

COVID-related closures of public and academic libraries have underlined the importance of online platforms that provide access to digitized print-based collections. However, they also have highlighted the value of in-person handling of print artefacts for sensing and making sense of them. How do existing dominant digital platforms invite and/or discourage embodied forms of exploration and sense-making? What opportunities for embodied experience might we discover if we embrace the material qualities of print-based collections when designing interfaces for digital access? In this paper, we present findings from a speculative exercise where we invited creative professionals and experts in curating and handling access to collections to reflect on existing approaches to digitized print-based collections and to speculate about alternative design opportunities and modes of engagement. We argue for digital bricolage-a design approach that values working with materials that are "on hand" and embracing our ability to "handle" them in ways that foster both casual and curious exploration.