Visitor research and evaluation 

For major gallery projects and special exhibitions there are usually three evaluation stages: 

Front-end – when work begins on developing an exhibition or display, initial concepts and ideas are explored with key audiences. Front-end evaluation establishes visitors’ prior knowledge, experience and expectations of the subject covered by the exhibition or gallery.

Formative – when ideas for specific displays and associated interpretation within an exhibition are more advanced they may be tested with visitors. This stage of the evaluation process leads to iterative improvements.

Summative – after an exhibition has opened, research is undertaken to help inform the development of future displays and to establish how successful an individual project has been in meeting its objectives.

Each evaluation stage results in a formal report. Some of this evaluation is done in-house by the Interpretation Team while external agencies or freelance specialists are commissioned to undertake larger assessments.

The purpose of evaluation and visitor research at the Museum is to improve the British Museum visitor experience and generate learning and insights from each project to inform future exhibitions and displays. 

Exhibitions and permanent gallery projects require huge investments of staff time and other resources. Visitor research and evaluation is performed to ensure that the full potential of each exhibition, display or project is achieved, and to help assess the reach and impact of the Museum’s public programme. 

The Interpretation Team at the British Museum often presents findings from these evaluations at conferences and other events. The Museum’s evaluation reports are used by postgraduate students and academics, as well as British Museum staff. They are frequently cited in dissertations, articles and peer-reviewed publications because they provide robust insight into the impact of British Museum exhibitions and projects. 
 

Visitor research and evaluation are ongoing at the British Museum. Each special exhibition or display poses different challenges and evaluation of each one generates unique insights. However, there are also some overarching findings. 

Evaluation of older permanent gallery displays reveals that the average visitor dwell time is typically quite low, sometimes only a few minutes in duration. Most visitors only stop at a small number of objects in each display. Consequently, the Interpretation Team has structured new displays around a selection of gateway objects intended to capture visitors’ attention and to engage them with key themes, stories and collection highlights in each area of the Museum.

Evaluation of special exhibitions with an admission charge shows that they attract significantly different audiences to the permanent gallery displays and they have different motivations. The average visit length to an exhibition in the Sainsbury Exhibition Gallery is usually between 70 and 90 minutes. Nearly all of these visitors carefully follow the show’s narrative, looking at most of the objects and engaging with the majority of the interpretation.

The Interpretation Team is continuing to investigate new ways to make engaging exhibitions and free collection-based displays that appeal to and meet the differing needs of visitors.