Design Recommendations for Historical Cemeteries Using Speculative Design

Paper in proceeding, 2022

Historical cemeteries are interesting design spaces within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), due to their cultural and personal significance, and that they also serve multi-purposes within an urban community. However, contemporary usage of such places and technological developments partly interfere with preserving such places' significance. To evaluate how to counteract this challenge, we conducted an iterative design approach including a) five expert interviews, b) a design workshop using speculative design artifacts (n=4), followed by c) semi-structured interviews that evaluated the derived design concepts (n=6). We made an exemplary study of a European historical cemetery, and consolidate ten design recommendations for interactive historical cemeteries. Eight align with prior work, two are new. Furthermore, we identified design opportunities for supportive technology to maintain such places' atmosphere and regulate users' behavior to comply with the local code of conduct. Our work supports other HCI researchers, aiming to preserve cultural heritage sites such as historical cemeteries.