As an evaluator with extensive experience in exhibition evaluation, I’m passionate about the intersection of evaluation and experience design. Recently, I spoke with Brenda Cowan, Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), about this topic. Over the past two decades, Brenda has played a key role in shaping and growing FIT’s Exhibition and Experience Design Masters program, consistently emphasizing the importance of evaluation in training future designers. We discussed why she believes it’s crucial for emerging designers to understand how evaluation happens and how it supports their work. Enjoy these highlights from our conversation!

About 10 years ago, I stood in front of my first-ever class, a newly minted teacher. I was nervous: I was still a graduate student. What did I know about teaching? As the class began, I calmed my nerves by wielding one of the few tools I had in my back pocket: an icebreaker question. “Would you rather battle a lion or fight a shark?” The students laughed; they each answered, showing a bit of their personality with each response. My nerves began to settle, and I thought, “Oh, yeah, I forgot. My students and I create this space of dialogue together, and we can use questions to build connections.” As I grew as an educator over the next couple of years, I loved facilitating learning. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the role of facilitator—I liked (as the cool kids might say) “holding space” for inquiry, critique, and dialogue. So, I went on to explore other facilitation roles; I served as a writing tutor, and I trained to become a museum docent.

Responding to uncertainty and loss with resilience and imagination isn’t easy. But we believe it’s essential to thrive in our current world. This month, we spotlight three resources that describe how museums are rethinking “business as usual.”

There are so many ways to tell a visual story with quantitative data. We’ve all come across data visualizations that communicate information in a clear and compelling way (for example, this amazing data story in the New York Times). But, I’m sure you’ve also encountered visualizations that leave you scratching your head, wondering what you are looking at and what you are supposed to be taking away. It can feel overwhelming to know where to start with making or improving your own visualizations.

Never fear! I want to share a few simple tips to keep top of mind when you are creating your next data visualization.

Our evaluation of the Talk of the Town artist-in-residence program at El Museo del Barrio looked at ways the program served its intended audience: immigrant communities throughout New York City that speak Indigenous and/or endangered languages. As part of data collection for the evaluation, interdisciplinary educator and evaluator Filippa Christofalou followed three different month-long artist residencies organized by El Museo in partnership with community-based organizations. Each residency focused on a different project designed to serve its specific community: a guide book for refugees and asylees from across the African diaspora, processional banners celebrating Indigenous Kichwa culture, and documentation of Indigenous Latin American medicinal healing resources through art. 

As we enter the second month of 2025 with some anxiety and trepidation about what lies ahead, here are three resources to inspire and encourage you to put people first, prioritize equity, and share the wealth moving forward.

We’re excited to share a thoughtful blog post by Samantha S. Snow, a valued data collector from one of our past projects and a graduate student in Museum Education at Tufts University. In this post, Samantha reflects on her experience and provides a unique perspective on the challenges and rewards of collecting data in museum settings. Her insights offer a behind-the-scenes look at the data collection process and emphasize the critical role it serves in shaping museum research.

This month, we’re reflecting on the importance of cultural context in shaping human experiences. Whether we’re assessing cognitive development, measuring program impact, or designing community spaces, context influences everything—from how we interpret behaviors to how we foster belonging.

About two years ago, my colleague Amanda Krantz wrote about the problematic assumption that museums are inherently “trusted” institutions. I was recently considering how this idea of “trust” connects to other mythology surrounding museums, including the idea that they are the Switzerland of non-profit organizations—“neutral”—an idea that was brought to the forefront in 2017 with the Museums are Not Neutral Campaign created by LaTanya Autry and Mike Murawski. In a 2023 MuseumNext post, the author quotes Murawski as saying “Museums have the potential to be relevant, socially-engaged spaces in our communities. Yet, too often, they strive to remain ‘above’ the political and social issues that affect our lives – embracing a myth of neutrality.”

What does it look like to give in a way that emphasizes inclusive and meaningful relationships rather than traditional, transactional approaches? This month, we share resources that underscore the importance of knowledge sharing, trust-based philanthropy, and repatriation as ways to promote a culture of giving and mutual respect.

Museum educators, does any of this sound familiar?

You care deeply about making a positive difference in museum audiences’ lives, yet...

• You are pulled in many directions by competing needs and agendas

• You have limited resources and capacity

• You need to raise money to fund your programs

• You feel you are having a positive impact but you have no evidence, and 

• You have been told to consider expanding or scaling up your program

If any of these are true of your museum program or department, you probably need a logic model.

Interviewing visitors is a valuable way to gain insight into what they think of your museum, either during or as they finish their visit. Their feedback can also help shape the development of future exhibitions and programs. I’ve had the opportunity to interview many museum visitors onsite at museums, and I personally really love chatting with them. I get to meet a lot of great people and hear so many unique and diverse perspectives. To help out anyone interested in trying out interviews, I would like to share a few tips as a seasoned interviewer!

This month we explore three resources that are focused on expanding perspectives and ensuring that different voices and needs are heard—whether it's women in design, underrepresented groups in Census data, or Gen Z in historical programming.

At the Visitor Studies Association (VSA) conference in July 2024, I co-presented with two museum exhibition practitioners about questioning the status quo of exhibition evaluation practices. We each approached the session with questions and skepticism about traditional summative evaluation for exhibitions. The big question I explored was: Are summative evaluations worth the cost (money and time)?

We have seen a surge in requests for audience research projects over the last couple of years. All types of museums, from science to history to botanic gardens, are asking for studies that can help them understand more about their visitors. And with this flurry of audience research projects, we have been doing a lot of thinking about museums and their audiences.

These three articles explore the evolving role of museums as spaces that go beyond an authoritarian curatorial voice to being community-centered spaces that encourage active meaning making by diverse audiences.

A common mantra of mine is that museums can’t be all things to all people. For a museum to have real impact in the world, it must prioritize the audiences that are most important to it, construct a clear picture of who they are, and allocate resources to support those people.

What’s the difference between the “real thing” and something simulated or superficial, and when does the distinction make a difference? This month, we explore this question by looking at true (versus token) relationship building, an AI-generated (versus living) artist, and dynamic (versus static) maps.

With increasing conversations around artificial intelligence (AI) and how we can use AI tools in our work, I constantly find myself apprehensive of what new waves of AI technology (like generative AI) are offering. Don’t get me wrong though—I’m all for technological advancement and I fully understand that AI is already around us, but I’ve been finding it hard to fully get behind the usage of AI in mainstream fields. Most of my apprehension comes from ethical and justice issues that, in my opinion, organizations and companies are ignoring. My main issues with incorporating AI technology into client work can be summarized into the following categories. 

In my last post, I asked how museums might create meaningful and fulfilling community partnerships and I offered my musings to this question. This month, I return to briefly consider a few activities and techniques geared toward establishing and strengthening community partnerships. Again, as museum staff, how do you “build genuine, reciprocal relationships with your visitors and local organizations? How do you work toward a common goal with your local community?” Below, I explore how using metaphors and walk-and-talk conversations might help those involved in community partnerships (primarily museum staff and community partners) communicate the more intangible aspects of “community” and ground their collaborations in shared understandings.