Developed by CNR ISPC (Italy) and Fraunhofer IGD (Germany) within the Horizon Europe PERCEIVE project, the CoDesign Tool helps exhibition designers, curators, and cultural professionals create more engaging visitor experiences—whether physical, digital, or hybrid. At its core, the tool is a structured, game-like framework that guides participants step by step through the main stages of the design process. Using canvases and themed card decks, it provides prompts, challenges, and questions that encourage creativity, discussion, and collaboration. Importantly, it is designed to be inclusive: anyone can take part, regardless of their prior design expertise.

The tool is available in two versions:

• a paper-based board game, used in workshops and classrooms;
• a web-based collaborative app, currently in development, designed to support remote and hybrid sessions.

The paper edition extends the legacy of the open-access VisitorBox (Horizon 2020 GIFT project), while the digital version represents a new innovation introduced by PERCEIVE.

Who is it for?

The paper edition is designed for in-person workshops, classrooms, and collaborative sessions. It is particularly suited to cultural institutions, educators, and researchers who want a hands-on, inclusive method to structure creative processes and produce concrete, well-structured concepts ready to be developed into prototypes or project plans.

How it works

The paper version uses canvases and modular card decks to guide teams through seven steps:

• Context definition – identifying assets, audiences, and setting.
• Institutional Goals – clarifying institutional priorities.
• Audience Goals – exploring the cognitive and emotional aims of visitor experience, with new decks on Authenticity and Sense of Care.
• Design Brief – combining motivations, resources, and constraints.
• Ideation – generating innovative concepts collaboratively.
• Disruption Stage – stress-testing ideas against engagement, environmental, and resilience challenges.
• Storyboard – visualising the final concept.

The physicality of the tool—cards to manipulate, canvases to fill—makes the process tangible and engaging, lowering barriers for participants with little or no design background.

Key innovation: Audience Goals

One of the most significant outcomes of PERCEIVE’s research is the introduction of the Audience Goals stage, supported by two brand-new card decks dedicated to Authenticity and Sense of Care.
These concepts, developed through the project’s theoretical work, highlight how visitors engage not only cognitively but also emotionally with cultural heritage. They help teams design experiences that feel meaningful, authentic, and socially responsible—strengthening the connection between heritage, institutions, and audiences.
Building on VisitorBox

The CoDesign Tool builds on the VisitorBox toolkit (developed in the Horizon 2020 GIFT project), which first introduced the card-game approach to cultural heritage design. While retaining its accessible, modular format, the CoDesign Tool brings a redesigned workflow, with a compact stacking system that reduces complexity and cognitive load, and a refined Disruption Stage that encourages critical reflection on feasibility and sustainability.

Tested in practice

The tool has been refined through workshops with PERCEIVE partners—including the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN), the MUNCH Museum (Oslo), the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), CNR ISPC, Fraunhofer IGD, HSLU, NTNU, FORTH, and Anamnesia-Imki—as well as external collaborators such as the University of Bologna.

Looking ahead

The paper version continues to evolve. Future updates will refine usability, layout, and modularity, while exploring new Audience Goals decks—for example on emerging themes in the Cultural Heritage field, such as social cohesion. Additional stages may also be introduced, such as one dedicated to communication and dissemination strategies, ensuring the paper tool remains a relevant and complementary resource alongside its digital counterpart.

Credits

Laura Travaglini , Marcello Massidda , Samuele Spotti , Manuele Veggi , Sofia Pescarin (CNR), Andreas Zapf (Fraunhofer IGD)

Learn more

• Pescarin, Sofia, Marcello Massidda, Laura Travaglini, Samuele Spotti, and Manuele Veggi. 2025. “PERCEIVE Co-Design Tool for Cultural Heritage Experiences.” Version 0.9.2. Preprint, Zenodo, March 24, 2025. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063559.
• Travaglini, Laura, Marcello Massidda, Andreas Zapf, Samuele Spotti, Manuele Veggi and Sofia Pescarin. 2025. “The CoDesign Tool. A Card-Based Framework for Interactive and Collaborative Design in Cultural Heritage.” HCI International 2025 – Late Breaking Papers. In print.