Staging Post-Digitality: Interdisciplinary perspectives on museums, digital culture and design research

Structured around three interconnected discussions, this article offers an interdisciplinary perspective on how museums can be shown to navigate the complexities of the post-digital era. The post-digital museum is approached through the lenses of digital maturity, curatorial programming, and emerging design practices. In the first section, Ross Parry introduces the concept of the post-digital museum, tracing its historical roots from the early adoption of computing technologies to its current status as an embedded condition within cultural organisations. Next, Vince Dziekan discusses how scholarly discourse and institutional practice converge to advance our understanding of trajectories that digital transformation has followed in museums. Finally, Marco Mason focuses on human-centered design practices as dynamic, socially embedded processes that foster innovation, inclusivity, and ultimately greater digital maturity. his discussion will also introduce how posthuman perspectives are beginning to reshape museum design practices, acknowledging the increasingly entangled relationships between human and non-human actors.
This article will be of interest to researchers in the fields of cultural heritage and design professionals – architects, designers, and digital agencies – who operate in cultural contexts where design practices are becoming integral to museum practice and scholarship. In this context, it is crucial to recognize that all museum professionals – regardless of their institutionally designated role – are becoming active participants in co-creative design processes, playing a strategic and informed role in driving innovation and digital change within museums.