The digital communication of intangible cultural heritage is moving from archival preservation toward interactive and experience-oriented forms of public engagement. Yet many heritage applications still organize culture as a collection of texts, images, and videos, with limited attention to older adults who may be users, local knowledge holders, and participants in transmission. This article presents a participatory design case concerning the development of a digital intangible cultural heritage application in Shandong, China. The project combined user research, approximately 50 interviews, co-design activities involving older adults and heritage practitioners, interface prototyping, and iterative refinement. A retrospective analysis of the design process traced how reported barriers and cultural expectations were translated into the information architecture and interaction logic of a high-fidelity prototype. The case identified four connected requirements: reduce the effort needed to locate meaningful content; make navigation and system status explicit; support legible, forgiving interaction; and preserve room for practitioner explanation and user contribution. These requirements shifted the application from a display-led catalogue toward a layered service that connects cultural items with people, processes, places, and opportunities for participation. The study argues that accessibility in digital heritage is not an optional interface adjustment. It determines who can encounter, interpret, and contribute to living heritage. It also shows that involving older adults as design partners can reveal cultural and experiential knowledge that is missed when they are treated only as users with limitations. The article concludes with practical implications for participatory design, interaction design, and community-oriented digital heritage projects.

Huize Dong. Co-designing a Digital Intangible Cultural Heritage App with Older Adults. Frontiers in Art Research (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 3: 89-95. https://doi.org/10.25236/FAR.2026.080312.

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