The Visitor Studies Group: Championing excellent visitor experiences
If you’re looking for some more practical inspiration or guidance, you may want to check out our toolbox section. Or, if you have an article, report or case study you would like to contribute to our site, please feel free to contact us.
A reflective blog post about a workshop on why so many arts organisations are failing to engage effectively with data (and knowledge) collection. Includes links to further resources and tools. www.anewdirection.org.uk
Evaluating Evaluation ‐ Increasing the Impact of Summative Evaluation in Museums and Galleries ‐ Maurice Davies and Christian Heath, November 2013 Evaluating Evaluation November 2013
This report follows on from VSG contributing to the Museums Akademie in January 2011. The report has been written for the MA, and will be available to VSG members from November 2011. Evaluation as a Strategic Management Tool
The Books Connect Project aimed to support the development of new creative partnerships between libraries, museums and the arts using books and reading as a launch pad to develop new audiences and new venues for reading inspired creativity. This report details the Books Connect Project Evaluation and includes a copy of the toolkit developed for the evaluation. Books Connect Project Evaluation Report
An International bibliography on visitor experience studies and exhibition evaluation in zoos and aquariums. Compiled by Harry Schram for the EAZA Education Committee, 2011. 2011-02-10 Visitor Studies Bibliography
This report summarises the results from research into school audiences’ views on, and use of, videoconferencing. It particularly focuses on teachers’ and pupils’ reactions to video-conferencing sessions offered by museums. MoL Video Conferencing Final Report April 2008
The Museum of London and Museum in Docklands offer a programme of national curriculum linked sessions for school groups with special educational needs (SEN). This report presents the findings from the evaluation of the SEN programme and includes information about its effectiveness. The report includes findings from students as well as teachers. Museum of London SEN Programme Evaluation Report
Attachment: MoL Video Conferencing Final Report April 2008.pdf This report summarises the results from research into school audiences’ views on, and use of, videoconferencing. It particularly focuses on teachers’ and pupils’ reactions to video-conferencing sessions offered by museums.
Exploring case text labels and presenting the findings from research carried out at the Museum of London. Both adult and family visitors took part in this study which focused on a range of issues: the position and height of case captions, the amount and type of information included, and reactions to the style of writing. Case Captions Evaluation Report
This report was produced by the Science Museum’s Audience Research & Advocacy Group. It presents the findings from evaluation of the redeveloped Launchpad, an interactive gallery at the Science Museum. It focuses specifically on SEN groups and teachers. SEN Summative Report – Launchpad – Science Museum
This document, produced by the Science Museum’s Audience Research & Advocacy Group, summarises lessons learned from the interactive exhibit prototype testing during the redevelopment of Launchpad – an interactive gallery at the Science Museum. Exhibit Prototype Testing – Launchpad Project – Science Museum
The Science Museum was involved in an audience-led process where members of London’s African-Caribbean community were consulted in order to inform a series of events on Scientific Racism at the Dana Centre. This report summarises findings from the consultation and offers a review of the overall process of consulting and using their opinions to inform events. Audience Led Project with Londons African Caribbean Community
The paper ‘Bringing User Testing into the Classroom: The Moving Here In-Class Evaluation Programme, examines user testing of online resources in a classroom setting, using as a case study the schools’ e-learning resources developed for the Moving Here site. View Paper
The paper ‘From ‘Guerrilla’ Methods to Structured Evaluations: Examples of Formative Web Design from the Exploratorium’s Evidence and Mind Projects’ presents formative web testing and evaluation methods ranging from floor testing with museum visitors using low-cost ‘guerrilla’ methods to structured evaluations that engage museum visitors and online remote audiences in the design process. Read Paper
‘Strangers With Clipboards’ gives an introduction to Visitor Studies at National Museums Scotland and how the creation of a Visitor Studies Officer post has benefited the organisation. Strangers With Clipboards – J Fuchs
‘Vicious Fishes’ presents an exploratory front-end exhibition evaluation at the Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium, helping planners understand how visitors comprehend and think about themes, ideas, concepts, and specimens associated with the Amazon. View Case Study
The case study ‘Understanding Visitors’ Levels of Engagement with Art’ presents an audience research project with the Dallas Museum of Art, examining the museum’s framework for understanding visitors’ engagement with art. View Case Study
The Dana Centre is the Science Museum’s (London, UK) venue for science dialogue events. The events aim to engage an adult audience in dialogue about science. Audience research and evaluation played an important part when developing the Dana Centre approach. This report contains findings from the front-end evaluation. Dana Centre front-end evaluation report