Temporality and Innovation in Digital Humanities: The Case of Papyri from Tebtunis

Abstract

Temporal aspects of Design Thinking (DT) innovation processes have not yet received enough attention. This paper discusses their importance in complex design situations involving non-collocated, multi-disciplinary design teams. We focus on three aspects: 1) awareness of temporal trajectories in the process and how to bring continuity to an otherwise fragmented workflow, 2) temporality of learning through such processes and 3) discussing opportunities for DT concerning temporal aspects of the process. As a research case, we use a project from digital humanities that aims to develop an innovative proposal for Virtual Tebtunis, a digital research platform enabling effective cooperation across organizations in possession of papyri and other articles from the ancient city of Tebtunis. Four workshops were organized in three locations, with varied groups of participants to carry out the Design Thinking process. The timeline of orientation, incorporation, and identification phases was used as an initial time framework. In the aftermath of the project, we were able to identify a richer framework for engaging with temporal aspects of DT processes.