Cultural heritage in product design: user perception and interaction

Student study · 2026 · Arts + perception
Nebus Kitessa

How can cultural heritage be built into product design, through form, material, symbolic reference and the ways objects are made and used? The project treats heritage as more than decoration: it shapes how people perceive, interpret and engage with an object.

The work runs in two stages. The first mapped cultural heritage in design and built prototypes that show how traditional elements can inform contemporary products. The second studies how users receive them: how cultural elements affect perception, emotional response and engagement.

The main case is the Kebero Speaker, an audio object that translates Ethiopian musical heritage into an interactive product, combining a traditional form with embedded electronics. It suggests that interaction, form and sound can each carry cultural knowledge.