Russborough House — inclusive heritage

How can a house built to display privilege become a space of genuine inclusion?

Speaking to the curators, we learned that access to Russborough's treasures is uneven. Visitors with disabilities, families of children with SEND, neurodivergent individuals and younger, more diverse audiences all face barriers that limit meaningful engagement — turning a shared cultural treasure into an inadvertently exclusive space.

Rather than limitations, we treated these as creative design prompts — pushing us toward sensory adaptation, spatial storytelling and intermediary perspectives instead of building work.

Her input shaped our approach to accessibility and emotional engagement. As she put it, Russborough isn't just about viewing objects — it's about atmosphere and memory.

Leads collections care, public learning and outreach. Her enthusiasm for openness and innovation made her an invaluable collaborator through every review.

A four-person team — Tanushri Tandon, Katie Devitt, Lipeng Wang and myself. My focus was accessible, user-centred design: running interviews and thematic coding, developing three of the twelve ideation concepts, and shaping the accessibility layer of the final app.

Mixed methods: semi-structured interviews with parents of SEND children, teachers and psychology professionals, plus a visitor survey distributed through the partners' outreach channels. Interviews were coded in MAXQDA using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021); survey data was mapped onto the interview-derived themes to triangulate them.

Questions avoided deficit language throughout, and we kept reflexive journals to surface our own bias. The guide was piloted internally and revised for tone and emotional sensitivity before it went near a participant.

Investigating the physical, sensory and structural limitations of a site like Russborough, and identifying design opportunities inside them.

Understanding how they experience museums — sensory sensitivities, cognitive diversity, and the support structures that enable interaction.

Evaluating how mobile apps, virtual tours and personalised interfaces can adapt traditional heritage experiences to diverse learning styles.

Preparing SEND children in advance reduces anxiety and increases confidence — accessible pre-visit resources are the single highest-leverage intervention.

Quiet spaces, reduced crowding and flexible pacing for children who become overwhelmed — adaptable sensory environments rather than fixed ones.

Verbal-only delivery and dense text are barriers. Participants advocated for visuals, symbols and plain language.

Tight schedules hinder enjoyment. Greater freedom to move, explore and self-pace was consistently requested.

Visits were most impactful when they encouraged imagination and self-expression. Children responded to playful, creative environments.

Well-designed digital tools aid focus, engagement and communication — but only when they're accessible in the first place.

Jack loves history and learns best through visuals and hands-on activities. Autistic with ADHD, he thrives on clear routines, finds transitions overwhelming, and needs quiet breaks to stay regulated.

"I'm bored, they're just talking. Can I go outside for a break?"

Maya is autistic with sensory processing differences and enjoys museums when they're calm and accessible. She prefers plain language, uncluttered visuals and audio guides.

"Can I just explore at my own pace?"

Tommy uses a wheelchair and enjoys hands-on exhibits. He's independent but faces barriers like steps and high displays. Accessible spaces and supportive staff help him feel included.

"It's not fair that I have to miss part of the tour. Wait for me!"

Each theme was reframed as an opportunity rather than a fixed barrier, using a single formula. Twelve concepts came out of it — three per team member — sketched in Procreate, Balsamiq and Photoshop before any of them were judged.

How might we help SEND pupils predict and prepare for their visit ahead of the tour, so they are more comfortable?

How might we create calming, flexible spaces within Russborough for visitors with sensory sensitivities?

How might we create personalised digital solutions that adapt to each visitor's communication style?

How might we embed flexible options in group tours to support autonomy and reduce pressure?

How might we provide activities for SEND children that encourage expression?

How might we use technology to support engagement and autonomy for SEND students and visitors with disabilities?

We killed the AR concept — and merged the other two

The co-design session with the Russborough team dissected features rather than whole prototypes, which is what made the call obvious. AR read as gimmicky and overstimulating, overlapped with the Smartify system already in place, and raised safety concerns. Structure and storytelling were what the site actually needed.

Praised for clarity, routine and inclusivity. Seen as practical and scalable for enhancing SEND accessibility.

Valued for emotional impact and creativity. Encouraged reflection and connection, especially for neurodivergent users and children.

Gimmicky and overstimulating, misaligned with user needs, duplicating Smartify. Dropped at this stage.

The home base after login: fill out the accessibility form, meet your tour guide, and see what there is to do. It doubles as the return point after any action or error, so users always land somewhere structured.

Room-by-room artefact descriptions and live captions during the tour, supporting both focused listening and independent exploration. A discreet assistance button lets a visitor alert the guide they need a break — without disrupting anyone.

A shared reflection space where visitors upload photos, captions and reactions tied to their visit — a living archive of multi-perspective heritage experiences, browsable with or without a group.

Capture an artefact or corner that mattered, add a reflective caption, publish it to the storyboard. Documentation without interrupting the flow of the visit.

A lightweight support hub: revisit the accessibility checklist, manage tickets, adjust settings, get help navigating the app. Deliberately shallow.

A plain checklist — quiet zones, wheelchair access, permission to bring sensory aids like headphones — reachable from both the home screen and the profile, because people navigate differently. On submit it goes straight to the Russborough team ahead of the visit, so staff can prepare rather than improvise.

Designing for a protected building taught me that constraints are the brief, not an obstacle to it. We couldn't move a stair or let anyone touch an object — so every gain had to come from preparation, adaptation and giving people control over their own pace.

It also taught me to kill work that tests badly. The AR concept was the most technically exciting thing we built, and it was the right thing to drop.