Our research plan targeted three types of users: staff, visitors, and potential visitors. It also provided grounding in visitor experience and the state of museums today.
DOMAIN RESEARCHWe executed domain research to become well-versed in museum culture, visitor
experience, and the environment in which The Warhol resides.
Literature Review
We surveyed over 25 journals and conferences related to museum technology and visitor
experience. Our search revealed several hotly-contested debates. One concerned the role
of technology in museums. A second concerned museum leadership.
Pittsburgh Competitive Analysis
Our literature review suggested museum visitors tend to be cultural omnivores, engaged
in several sociocultural pursuits. The Warhol competes with other venues for these
visitors’ time & money. We analyzed branding, expense, and visitor experience for several
of these local competitors.
International Visitor Experience Highlights
In addition to a literature review, we assessed internationally renowned museums for their
unique approaches to visitor experience. These analyses illustrate how users respond to
unique service experiences, and the success of ‘thinking differently’ within the museum
space.
We initiated research with a detailed look at the culture and organizational makeup of The
Warhol. We applied different methods to interview two types of Warhol staff members.
Administrative Interviews
We conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with top-level administrative staff, including
key department directors and managers. These interviews allowed us to grasp their vision
for visitor experience.
Staff Interviews
With visitor-facing staff we conducted contextual and semi-structured interviews. Our
interviews aimed to understand interactions with visitors, motivations for working at the
Warhol, and perceived responsibilities.
In order to identify opportunities for The Warhol visitor experience, we identified key
visitor behaviors alongside the motivations, goals, and desires through a combination of
observations and creative activities.
Environmental Observation
We observed specific locations to understand their spatial constraints and interactive
potential. We also followed groups throughout the museum to see the rhythms and social
patterns that pervade museum visits.
Psychographic SurveyWe designed a psychographic survey to explore links between The Warhol visitors backgrounds
and museum interaction preferences. The survey ran for three weeks and collected over
60 responses.
Creative Activity
We designed a custom research method to combine sketching, card sorting, and
storytelling. Visitors began the creative activity by sketching their path through a large
floorplan. After sketching, visitors used paper tokens to annotate their maps. This entire
exercise was designed to facilitate natural conversation about each visitor’s motivations,
goals, and desires.
How have other museums solved the visitor experience challenges facing The Warhol?
How do Pittsburghers view the museum? Extramural research helped us gather first-hand
design inspiration from leading museums and the surrounding Pittsburgh community.
Potential Visitor Research
We conducted brief 5-10 minute street-side interviews with 20 individuals outside The
Warhol. To get a range of personalities, these individuals were interviewed in downtown
Pittsburgh and the Strip District of the city.
Outside Museum Research
To observe how other leading museums were dealing with these challenges, we traveled
to New York and Washington, D.C. to evaluate their visitor experience firsthand. We used
researcher evaluations to perform a competitive analysis, getting a high-level view of the
successes and failings of other museums. Other data such as notes and photos were
synthesized through an affinity diagram.
