Using visitor research to plan quality public programs

Lynda Kelly, Head of Audience Research

Coverage

• What is audience research?

• How is it done?

• What has it told us?

• How do we use it?

• Purpose of audience research:– Who uses audience research– What have they done– What have they used it for– Feedback/questions

Exercise 1

• It gives us data about:– leisure patterns: who, where, why– what people want from a visit– what they do when they visit– prior interests and knowledge– satisfaction– what they learn and take away

Why do audience research?

• Find out visitor mix:– locals, tourists (Austn, O/s), age, social

grouping

• Visiting patterns:– weekdays, weekends, seasonal– helps to plan programs, opening hours

• Track advertising and marketing

• For use in:– promotion and marketing– grant applications– grant acquittals– decision making– programming– improvements and change– seeking funding (e.g. Councils, Ministry,

Federal agencies, others)

• Before embarking on anything there are a number of questions we need to ask…

Doing audience research

• What information do we already have?• What are the gaps in our information?• Who will use the information?• What will the information be used for?• What will be the consequences if we

don’t get the information?

• Who do we need to get the information from?

• How can we get the information?

• What methods will we use?

• How much will we invest: cost vs. benefit

Then ask …

• What does this mean for your institutions??

Implications 1

• Methods:– What types of audience research are you

aware of/used?– Feedback/questions

Exercise 2

• Structured surveys, questionnaires• Usually closed questions (e.g. yes/no, rating

scales, agree/disagree)• Results often presented as percentages,

frequency counts• Gives statistical measures:

– extrapolate to general population– trend data: over time and across programs and/or

venues

Quantitative research

• demographics

• where else they visit

• how they find out

• satisfaction

• what stood out

• things they’d tell others

• messages retained, meanings made

Visitor surveys

• Focuses on people’s own recounts and meanings made

• Through:– in-depth interviews– case studies– observation/tracking– focus groups– community consultation

• Results are interpretations

Qualitative research

• What research methods might be suitable?

• How can it be done effectively and efficiently?

Implications 2

• Visitor Motivation:– Why do people visit museums?– Who visits your institutions - profiles

Exercise 3

• more highly educated• education quals in arts, humanities• aged between 30 and 50 OR primary

school aged children• visit with families, other social groups• higher socio-economic class• visited museums as children

Museum visitors …

• most open to new ideas

• value social experiences

• value learning

• extroverted

“museum kinds of people”

• they visit them to learn …

Why visit museums?

• a worthwhile leisure activity

• do something with family, group

• being challenged

• actively participate in new experiences

• personal satisfaction and self esteem

• fun and entertainment

Motivations also include

• 77% visit to experience something new• 71% visit for entertainment• 71% for learning• 70% for interests of children/family• 64% worthwhile leisure• 57% special events I must see or do• 56% recommended by others

AM research found

• How will you factor visitor motivation into programs and services?

Implications 3

• Visitor needs:– What do visitors want when they visit a

museum?

Exercise 4

• People have strong views about what they want from a museum visit …

Wants

• Experiences that are:– hands-on, active– sensory– memorable, with something to take away

• Learning that:– goes from familiar to unfamiliar concepts – is controlled by them– caters for all levels and styles– is new

They want

• Exhibits:– to touch and explore– not overloaded with words & information– that can get up close to– with staff there to answer questions– that are realistic– relaxing spaces to ‘take it all in’– that encourage talking/sharing amongst groups

• AM research has found that visitors have specific interests and information needs about collection items

Collections

• What is it made of?• How is it used?• What is it used for?• How often is it used?• What is the symbolism of it?• How old is it?• Is it still used today? If not, what is?• Who were/are the people and what are their

stories?

Anthropology collections

• What is it?– scientific name– everyday name/description

• Where did it come from:– and when was it found– distribution

• The ‘museum’ things:– how is it preserved– why is it in a museum? what is it used for?

• What is it related to that’s familiar to me?

Natural history collections

• How will you factor these needs into programming?

Implications 4

• Visitor behaviour:– What have you noticed about how visitors

behave in your institutions?– What data do you have to support this?

Exercise 5

• What do people do when they visit a museum?– unfortunately, the news is not good…

Visitor behaviour

• spend little time at exhibition components

• seldom read labels• stop at less than half of exhibits• use trial and error for interactives• children use interactives• attention decreases sharply after half

hour

Visitors typically

• visitors do what they want to do

• they skip many elements: visit about one-third… and

• spend usually less than twenty minutes in exhibitions

Timing/tracking data shows…

• showcases and dioramas attractive• live material most attractive• visual strategies key in retaining

information• items other than text panels stopped at• use many different examples for small

number of messages

AM research shows …

• How will you factor visitor behaviour findings into programming?

Implications 5

• Visitor learning:– What is learning?– What theories are currently in use in

museum learning?– How do you think people learn?– What data do you have?

Exercise 6

– unique to an individual & shared– dependant on context– lifelong & lifewide– immediate & happens over time– active process of reflection– chosen based on interests & preferences– shaped by prior knowledge & experience– making meaning & new connections– creative & innovative– enjoyable

Learning defined

• Learning is an essential part of being human; linked to our identity & sense of self:– we all have an intrinsic desire to learn

• Learning is about change:– surface learning (new facts, skills)– deep learning (changing as a person)

PLACE•school

•museums, galleries,

cultural institutions

•libraries

•internet

•environment/nature

•life

MUSEUM LEARNING:PARTICIPATION

PROCESS•“doing something”

•hands-on

•objects & tools

•cognitive & physical

•surface & deep

PURPOSE•motivation

•interests

•enjoyment

•change

•choice

PEOPLE•family

•friends, colleagues, work

•accompanying adults

•community

•professionals:

•museum staff

•teachers

PERSON•prior knowledge, experience

•role

•gender

•cultural background

•lived history

•personal interest

•personal change

•meaning making

•seeing in different way

PRODUCT•facts & ideas

•short & long-term

•linking

•outcomes

•meaning making

•change

•Expanding your knowledge, a new aspect on life (Interview #11)

•Finding your place in the world. Engaging with the world in a way to discover more about it and make sense of things. That’s the big picture (Interview #40)

•Being able to put pieces of information together [to] draw conclusions (Interview #71)

•New things that add to your body of knowledge (Interview #78)

PERSON

THREE ROLES PLAYED

• Visit manager

• Museum expert

• Learning-facilitator

Visit manager

Liz. Let’s look down the back; check if there’s anything down there we need to see.

Liz. Shall we go and have a look back there? We might find something that you like Paul.

Museum expert

Rox. How do they catch them, Mum? I wonder what they put them in a bottle for?

Mary. So you can see them, ‘cos the backs are white, so you can see them better.

Tara. Eoww, disgusting! Look at the little bugs … with a needle through them.

Liz. Well that’s just to hold them in place.

Art. That’s from India again.

Dot. I know, I wonder where they find them. Just walking along?

Art. I don’t know, probably dug up from somewhere. Caves, mines, it doesn’t say.

Learner-facilitator

Kay. Come and look at this. What is that? Where’s that from Zeke?

Zeke. Bali.

Kay. Yes, good boy.

Zeke. I knew that.

Kay. How did you know that?

Zeke. Because it has all these on it “Javanese and Balinese” [reading from text] in the second line. I’ll tell you why I knew it was Balinese, because I saw those little gold things in Bali.

Obviously [learning is] something that’s not boring, something that’s not passive, so it’s more of an active thing … Something where you choose to be involved, that you’re interested in doing. (Interview Transcript 3.1, 22/11/00)

PURPOSE

PEOPLE

… sometimes we’d bounce off something of interest to ourselves, then we’d look at it a bit more, wander off. Then we’d come together a few times to have a look at things. … I also learned a bit more about my friends. I didn’t know they had an interest in [tattoos] either, and you sort of learn more of what they’re about as well. (Interview Transcript 3.4, 24/02/01)

Rick. Hey Kate look at these ones, how’s that for a shell?

Kate. That’s an unusual one.

Toni. That’s beautiful.

Kate. Were shells alive, are shells alive?

Rick. They’ve got things inside them.

Toni. Molluscs in them.

Kate. But are the actual shells alive?

Toni. No.

Rick. They’re a shell.

Toni. I think the shell is the shell of the mollusc that originally lived in them, like a snail.

Kate. So they’re part of something?

Toni. They’re part of something that was, yes.

SHARING LEARNING

• Libraries

• Museums, galleries, other cultural institutions

• University, school, formal education

• Internet

• Holiday destinations, the environment

PLACE

Ed. Look at the seahorses.

Cath. Like the one in the salt water.

Bree. They’re just so cute and they swim along…

Ed. I’d hate to be bitten by these fish, look at the teeth!

Cath. But they don’t normally attack. … When we go to Port Stephens next week we should go and find the white seahorses. Wouldn’t that be mad if we see one and we go, that’s a white seahorse. The guy’s going to just look at us [and go] how do you know that!

PLACE

•Opening the mind to new experience (Interview #4)

•Acquiring new knowledge and applying that (Interview #5)

•Expanding your knowledge about an area by a variety of means (Interview #11)

•A hands-on experience where [a person] can be involved with something, must be experiential (F3)

•Growth, development, change (F2)

PROCESS

•A new way of looking at something – new facts, an interaction (Interview #28)

•The application of knowledge to new circumstances (Interview #55)

•Enhancing my understanding of the world and acting on that understanding (C5)

•Taking in what you see around you and using that in your everyday life (C4)

PRODUCT

…You have this stereotype about people who’ve got tattoos and it really gives you a different perspective on it … I probably just thought it was an abuse to your body, sort of, beforehand ... And since then, like, when people have piercings I just look at it, not stare at it, and think about where they got it, what sort of thing they had done. (Interview Transcript 3.4, 24/02/01)

Deep change

Linking to past, present & future life experiences

Kate. Are they stick insects?Toni. Some of them are. That’s at the end of Lord

Howe Island, Ball’s Pyramid.Kate. Did we sail past that?Toni. We didn’t sail past that but we flew nearby. You

could see it from the top of the mountain Daddy climbed. Look at the frogs. Look at the size of

those. Not like our piddly little ones.Kate. Like that small one? [points]Toni. Ours would be like that.

• What aspects of museum learning will be useful / used by you in programming?

Implications 6

• Planning quality public programs:– Five takeaways– Feedback/questions

Exercise 7

• All audiences want …– Respect for them as individuals– Choice– Welcoming atmosphere from trained, aware,

friendly, knowledgeable staff:• both front & back of house

– See themselves reflected in programs, exhibitions, collections & staffing:

• the “work” of the museum– Active & varied learning experiences:

• group-based & individual– Involvement– A contemporary experience:

• in communication & interpretation modes• content/issues that are relevant & current

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