The Intergenerational Digital Storytelling for Inuvialuit Cultural Heritage Preservation project is a cooperative project with the communities within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) in the Western Arctic. The project centres around the creation of a mobile intergenerational digital storytelling application using a community-driven participatory design method.
In creating this app, several specific objectives will be carried out, including:
Establishing a novel community-driven participatory design methodology involving Inuvialuit elders and youth for developing a mobile intergenerational digital storytelling application
Co-designing, prototyping, and co-developing the application
Conducting a community-driven usability evaluation of the mobile intergenerational digital storytelling application and its audio-video functionalities with elders and youth
Gaining insight into the perspectives and experiences of community members on intergenerational digital storytelling
The establishment of this app is meant to facilitate Indigenous intergenerational knowledge exchange, preservation, and access among the Inuvialuit elders and youth and to support digital literacy and inclusion, and language learning and revitalization.
The main methodology utilized in this project will be a community-based participatory research approach consisting of ethnography and participatory design. The entire process will be informed by Indigenous research methodologies.
Ethnographic methods will be employed through observations and interviews at open house events in the Inuvialuit Cultural Centre. These methods will aid in researchers being immersed in the culture of the community and the worldviews of the community elders and youth.
Participatory design methods will be used in various stages in this project. These include:
An initial exploration of the conceptual design behind the audio-recording user interface
The discovery process, which will include conversations on storytelling, to clarify user goals and ensure agreement on the project outcome between researchers and the community
Prototyping, to iteratively shape and co-design the application in close collaboration with elders and youth, and to conduct a user evaluation of the resulting application