- What is a visitor study?
- Who does a visitor study?
- Why should I do a visitor study?
- If things are going well, should I still do a visitor study?
- My institution already tracks visitor numbers through ticket sales and/or satisfaction surveys. How is a visitor study different?
- I don’t want to bother visitors with a survey when they are visiting. How can I find out more about their experience without disrupting them?
- I’m afraid doing a visitor study will reveal problems I don’t have the time/money to fix.
- How much does it cost to do a visitor study?
- How long does it take?
- What kind of institutions do you work with?
What is a visitor study?
A visitor study is a flexible process to help you evaluate how your audience is engaging (or will likely engage) with your exhibits and programs.
It can be a single survey or a comprehensive evaluation using multiple methods.
The process generally looks like:
- Identify project
- Define scope of evaluation
- Define evaluation question(s)
- Select evaluation method(s) and team
- Prototype evaluation
- Collect data
- Clean data
- Analyze data
- Write up data
- Present results
Depending on the question(s) you want answered, a visitor study can take place before, during or after an exhibit is installed or a program is developed. You can do it once or re-evaluate at regular intervals as your audience’s needs are likely to shift over time.
Who does a visitor study?
I can. Or you can. Anyone can, with the right training!
I want to make learning about your audience accessible which is why I provide a range of services from training to complete visitor studies.
Why should I do a visitor study?
A visitor study lets you look under the hood at your institution, so you can make decisions about how to use your resources with more confidence.
Do you want to grow your audience, but don’t know where to start? A visitor study will help.
Have a suspicion that visitors are speeding through an exhibit that was supposed to steal the show? A visitor study can confirm your hunch (or indicate otherwise) and provide insight into why it is happening so you can take action.
Applying for important funding? A visitor study can get you robust data to strengthen your application.
If things are going well, should I still do a visitor study?
Doing a visitor study can be especially helpful when things are going well. For example, you will:
- Understand why you are doing well
- Establish a baseline for future visitor studies/projects
- Have robust data for annual reports and grant applications
My institution already tracks visitor numbers through ticket sales and/or satisfaction surveys. How is a visitor study different?
Ticket sales and satisfaction survey data are useful, but a visitor study goes beyond what they can capture. For example, a visitor study can:
- Describe what visitors are doing on site
- Explore why they do (or do not) visit your site
- Evaluate the impact of your exhibits and programs
- Identify how your exhibits and programs align with your institution’s mission
I don’t want to bother visitors with a survey when they are visiting. How can I find out more about their experience without disrupting them?
There are a wide range of methods that are used in visitor studies, so you can focus on collecting data in ways that are less disruptive to the visitors’ experience.
However, a cheery and confident approach paired with a well designed survey can show visitors you value their opinion and care about their experience. What you may assume is a disruption can actually improve their visit in the moment, and in the long run.
I’m afraid doing a visitor study will reveal problems I don’t have the time/money to fix.
This is a valid concern and you can address it in a few ways:
- Keep the scope of your study small enough that you can address any concerns that come up. Even a small amount of data is better than none.
- Go big and use the results to make any immediate changes you can afford and plan for changes you can make in the future. This means you can skip the remediation on a current exhibit, but take the visitor study results on board when planning the next.
- If you know you don’t have the time or resources for any remediation, you can focus exclusively on learning about what your audience would like to experience in future exhibits and programs.
Although it might feel uncomfortable, showing a need for remediation can actually be good news – it means your institution has room to grow!
How much does it cost to do a visitor study?
This depends on the scope and scale of your visitor study.
Contact me for a quote.
How long does it take?
Again, this depends on the scope and scale. It will also depend on the availability of your staff, depending on their level of involvement.
The simplest studies can take as little as 4-6 weeks but more comprehensive studies can take 3-4 months or more.
What kind of institutions do you work with?
If you are a visitor-focused institution, I can help you!
This includes places like:
- heritage sites
- science centres
- museums
- art galleries
- zoos/aquaria
- parks
TM Visitor Studies 