Using Play as a Design Approach to Create Exploratory Digital Archives

Dates: May 12th to May 15th, 2025

Instructor:  Patricia Enn

In this course I will emphasize how play is an important tool for designing engaging and exciting digital archives. Often archives can place too much emphasis on order and structure, which is helpful for those familiar with the content and aware of what they are looking for, but it leaves out individuals that are simply curious and stumbled upon the site. Drawing from my experience working with the Fred Wah Digital Archive, I will guide people through the use of simple open source tools, like Figma, to create prototypes and design concepts for their archive. The course will explore both theoretical ideas around the use and importance of play (drawing on my experience working with the collective of artists called [per]mission to Play) as well as how play can actually be applied as a design concept to create interfaces and archives that are engaging and exploratory. The goal of the course is for attendants to come away with a game plan for how they can re-design their archive, or other digital platform, to make it more playful and exploratory, thus engaging those that stumble upon to get lost in narrative threads of curiosity. 

We will be creating prototypes for playful digital humanities archives first using paper, then using Figma. By the end of the session students should leave with a clear plan as to how they will incorporate more play into their digital archives. 

Intended Audience:

Individuals who are involved with digital humanities archives and want to make them more playful and interesting for the user to interact with. 

Location: TBA