Visitor Driven Exhibitions: Curating Museums Based on Visitor Behavior Patterns

Abstract

The use of visitor behavior tracking and analysis can be of great use to museum professionals and designers alike. Using established technology commonly used in other applications and adapting process to fit the context, low cost options exist to aid in the design of new museum and exhibit spaces. As shown through this study, the implementation of inexpensive cameras and intensive study of visitor pathways, a number of common behavior patterns can be extrapolated. These patterns have been proven to successfully match simulated outcomes, signaling the potential for this process to be more widely applied in the field of museum design. Architects, planners, and museum staff alike could benefit from the implementation of the process utilized in this study to better understand their patrons and predict how future exhibitions will be experienced. Using standards established through greater study of this methodology, baseline engagement rates could provide a starting point for analysis, or individual study of existing museums can more specifically predict visitor behavior. Utilizing this process, museum designers may now have better control and a quantitative understanding of how visitors engage with exhibition spaces.