Visitor Experience

Transforming Museums with Immersive Sound

By Maglyn Bertrand

Sound is a potent force. When harnessed with intention and care, its impact can be substantial. As a trained ethnomusicologist with experience working in museums like the Louis Armstrong House Museum, I have long been fascinated with the …
The Best Museum Bathrooms, According to Museum People

By Joseph O'Neill

When you think of all the memorable, thoughtfully designed spaces in museums, the bathrooms may not be the first thing that come to mind. They aren’t usually considered the feather in an architect’s cap, and they can often feel more like a …
Crafting a Post-Disaster Experience: How Visitor Experience Staff Have Adapted to the Pandemic

By Andrea Gallagher Nalls

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, museums everywhere have become more people-centric. Top-line conversations have centered on the thoughts and feelings of our visitors as we have reopened under new safety standards and societal norms. …
On the Ground: How Visitor Experience Teams Are Teaching Front-Line Staff to Be DEAI Advocates

By Andrea Gallagher Nalls

In the museum experience world, making visitors feel welcome is serious business. Our goal is to exceed guests’ standards for positive experiences, and nothing undermines that goal like a lack of inclusivity or accessibility. When a …
Crafting the Museum Experience: How Mingei International Museum Centered Mission and Visitor Experience in a Major Renovation

By Jennifer Luce & Rob Sidner

In September 2021, Mingei International Museum will reopen after a three-year, fifty-five-million-dollar renovation. This ambitious and unique capital project, completed in partnership with architect Jennifer Luce, has resulted in a fully …
Inviting Engagement: Front-of-House Workers Become Online Content Creators

By Catherine Arias

After announcing our free admission initiative in January 2020, MOCA’s lobby was a bustling hive of activity. Visitor engagement staff welcomed attendees by scanning their tickets and orienting them to exhibitions, rules, and amenities. …
Empathy Interventions: Mia Experiments with Cultivating Empathy in Museum Visitors

By Alice Anderson & Karleen Gardner

Can the visual arts foster empathy and understanding? From our experiences as art museum educators, we believe they can, but there is little empirical research to support this theory. So, in 2017, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), …
Using Local Data to More Fully Understand the Visitor Experience During COVID

By Kari Ross Nelson & Stephen Ashton, Ph.D.

At Thanksgiving Point Institute—a farm, garden, and museum complex in Lehi, Utah—we’ve been wondering how visitor agendas are changing during the current health crisis. Understanding visitor motivations informs our efforts to be inclusive …
How the National Air and Space Museum Took Volunteering Virtual

By Elisa Kosarin, CVA

A mother and her spaceship-loving children, ages five and seven, arrive at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center using their timed tickets. As they enter the museum, unsure where to turn first, a volunteer on a sixty-five-inch monitor behind the …
“Access for All” Begins with Community Listening at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

By Alyssa O’Connell, Shasta Bray, and Alix Gasser

Cassandra Clement was always on the lookout. A self-described “stalker” of quiet places to sit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (CZBG), she always took note of benches tucked away in more secluded areas, or any nook or cove …