Eleventh International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Visitors’ knowledge is the starting point for defining a museum’s educational policies, museographic approaches and communication choices. This study does not necessarily aim to increase participation, but rather to improve the quality of service and experience offered. In collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto in Italy, the project aims to analyse behaviour and usage models within the museum space. The research involves the use of a questionnaire to detect the demographic and social characteristics of the public and a summative evaluation, through an observing analysis (timing and tracking), done unobtrusively, where the visitors are not aware they are being observed. The observation makes it possible to identify the visit paths, the communicative referents (exhibits, single objects, panels, labels, multimedia applications) of greater and lesser importance for the visitor (attraction index and holding-power index) and the junctions, points of the visit path in which the visitor chooses alternative transit solutions not considered in the design phase of the exhibition. The collected data leads to greater understanding of the impact of the exhibition choices on the visitors and the effectiveness of the interpretative apparatus, providing museums with valuable insights for museological and museographical planning as well as for marketing strategies.