The Aggregation of Tracking-and-Timing Visitor-Use Data of Museum Exhibitions for Benchmarks of “Thorough Use”

Abstract

Understanding the behavior of visitors in museum exhibitions is essential to the creation of effective presentations of meaningful content and experiences for the public. This article summarizes a recent aggregation of 65 tracking-and-timing studies that builds on the data for 110 older studies previously published and examines the issue of “thorough use” with two numerical indexes – the sweep rate index (SRI) and the percentage of diligent visitors (%DV). These metrics reveal patterns of the most basic evidence of visitors’ engagement with exhibitions. In addition, a metascattergram visually presents the variables along with benchmarks – 300 SRI and 25% DV – that can be used to compare the data from one exhibition to another or to compare the same traveling exhibition at different sites. SRI and %DV contribute useful measures for discussions about diagnosing and improving audience engagement in exhibitions, and the process of collecting and analyzing the data is a useful activity for museum professional development.

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Notes on contributors

Beverly Serrell

Beverly Serrell is an independent museum consultant who specializes in planning, interpreting, and evaluating exhibitions. She has written articles, spoken at conferences, and taught workshops about the “Big Idea,” label writing, and assessing excellence in museum exhibitions. Her books, Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach (2015) and Judging Exhibitions (2006), have been used in museum studies programs worldwide. Address correspondence to: Beverly Serrell, Serrell & Associates, Chicago, IL, USA. E-mail: [email protected], www.serrellassociates.com.