To understand how to deliver better experiences for visitors, especially those without a special interest in its themes of motor sport and aviation, Brooklands Museum commissioned us to undertake a review of the visitor experience. Our objective was to identify the visit experience strengths that could be built on and communicated on and off site, plus understand and prioritise the areas of the visit experience in need of improvement. We developed a three-stage qualitative approach conducted among non-visiting target audiences:
- Pre-visit focus groups to understand perceptions of the Museum and examples of great visit experiences
- Site visits – using our mobile ethnography app, we were able to track respondents around the Museum using GPS and gather feedback on highs, lows and emotions via photos, videos and text
- Post-visit focus groups to debrief on the visit experience, picking up on issues identified during the site visit
Insights have helped Brooklands Museum to prioritise their visitor experience and communications activities. Findings are being used to improve pre-visit communications messages, the ticketing process, visitor introduction and orientation and wayfinding to and around the site. But perhaps most importantly, insights from the work are helping to create a cohesive and compelling narrative for the visit experience, taking visitors on a journey telling the story of the site.
