SCAD Museum of Art Research Case Study
Because when art is constantly changing, a museum that doesn’t is a bad idea.
Research is an important step in the design process. It allows designers to uncover the underlining user pain points and needs. The following project is an a case study of several examples of research methods used to unlock potential ways to improve the user experience at the SCAD Museum of Art.
Methodology
Secondary Research
Collect a solid background on the scope of the project from the experts.
Primary Research
Learn about the scope first hand. Remember what people say is not always what they do.
Analyze Data
Organize the qualitative and quantitative data in ways that are easier to digest.
Actionable Insights
Make suggestions on the steps your clients need to take to move forward.
Research Questions
Who are the players?
How do the interior and exterior spaces affect the museum?
What is the position of the museum in the community?
What is the mission of the museum?
What are the activities to achieve their goals?
What is the ecosystem of the museum?
What is the historical context of the museum?
Research questions help to define the topics that need to be understood to successfully tackle a design brief. They also create the basis for the research plan that outlines what we need to know, why we need to know it and how we will obtain this data.
Secondary Research Methods
Expert Interview
Experts Interviews can help you quickly get up to speed on your subject area. Their perspective and insights can help you to form a foundational understanding of your topic so that you can hit the ground running with your research.
Innovation Sourcebook
The Innovation Sourcebook is a method for collecting the best practices from a range of services within an industry. This approach helps discover and catalog successful examples of organizations and offerings.
SWOT Analysis
The SWOT Analysis is used to evaluate a service's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The purpose of the analysis is to compare and contrast a service to others within the same industry.
Innovation Evolution Map
The purpose of Innovation Evolution Maps are to display how an industry has evolved over time. Using side-by-side comparisons the researcher can gain insights from this historical overview of the innovations in a particular industry.
Secondary Research Insights
The primary goal of museums is to serve as a hub for the preservation of our culture.
Ancient western society had buildings that stored artifacts, however their function was more closely related to universities than museums today.
The 19th and 20th Centuries resulted in a large influx in the creation of museums because they were seen as source of national pride.
Museums are also utilized for receptions, theaters, lectures venues, workshops, and performances
Many museums offer free events geared towards people that have limited access to museums.
Sometimes the architecture of the museum is as much of an attraction as the pieces inside.
Primary Research Methods
Fly-on-the-Wall Observation
Fly on the Wall Observation allows for the researcher to observe firsthand people's behaviors in their real-world environment.
2x2 User Map
A 2x2 User Map helps to organize all the different users of an environment. The two dimensional spacial map splits all users into four different archetypal user groups allowing for the creation personas that can cover a wide rang of user needs.
The Creatives
People who come to the museum because their art is their livelihood.
The Dilettantes
People who appreciate art even if they are not formally trained in the subject.
The Tag-Alongs
People who come to the museum because someone else in their group wanted to go.
The Others
People who appreciate art even if they are not formally trained in the subject.
Ethnographic Interviews
Ethnographic Interviews are a way to explore people's activities and experiences from their own perspectives. Compared to regular interviews, ethnographic interviews are conducted within the space where the activities being discussed take place.
Tim Peterson, Chief Curator
“From conception to execution, you don’t really know what you have until you are on the other side. To see people respond to it. How the artist feels about it.”
Lucia, Docent
“What’s most valuable is the exposure that we get to curators, artist, and talking to each other discussing about the art really absorbing all the first hand knowledge other rather than just reading about it”
David, Security Guard
“I would love to see a student gallery. I mean, there’s galleries with professional artist in here, but [this] museum is to inspire students”
Cultural Probe
The purpose of Cultural Probes to learn about user's or community's values and sincere thoughts. This is normally done by using a combination of tools, artifacts, and tasks to aid in extracting authentic responses from people.
Primary Research Insights
People use the interactive table in the lobby to play with but not for information.
Space is limited in the theater and many people end up sitting on the floor.
People use The Pamela Elaine Poetter Gallery more as an exit hallway than a gallery.
People don't stop to look at art in the lobby
Analyze the Data
Affinitize
Record all quotations and observations onto Post-it notes. Look for ideas that appear to be related and group them.
Affinitize
Use these groups to create statements from the perspective of the user then affinitize these statements into new groups.
Affinitize
Use these groups to form insights and organize these insights into several themes.
Actionable Insights
It is important to form a deep, empathetic understanding of your user in order to be able to design innovative solutions that alleviate their pain points. In the end we formed ten primary insights that were grouped into four separate themes which can be seen below.
Operations - What keeps the museum running smoothly.
Evolution - Art is not static, nor should the museum be.
Education - Education is the main focus of the museum.
Perception - Everyone experiences the world differently.
Our team developed 10 actionable insights that we passed along to the SCAD museum of art. Here is one example.
The Whole Iceberg
[Operations]
When users come to the museum they only see the artwork presented to them. There is an interesting back story of art from conception to execution.
The Opportunity
Find ways to teach about and/or involve the user in the exhibition process.
How might we…?
Better show the process
Get users involved in the process
Teach users about the process
Get them excited about the process
Make the process more transparent
Sample Solutions
In-house artist; where the artists create their pieces as the museum visitors observe.
Provide a process book, video or picture book near the final piece of art.
Provide a process book, video or picture book near the final piece of art.