Explore how we help museums
put people at the heart of their missions

Hannah Heller 10/27/26 Hannah Heller 10/27/26

Testing New Ways to Experience Art with the Dallas Museum of Art

Museums teach visitors early on: don't touch. So what happens when a museum builds a space that asks them to? Building on earlier visitor research, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) designed Artports, seating areas in the galleries with hands-on games and puzzles, iPads with artwork stories, books, and phone chargers. Before scaling them up across the museum, DMA wanted to know how visitors were using them, and how to make them better.

Katie Chandler 9/17/26 Katie Chandler 9/17/26

Bringing Hidden Stories into Focus with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) doesn't have a museum of its own — so when its newest exhibition opened at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, they had a question: who's actually showing up, and how are they experiencing it?

Amanda Krantz 4/6/26 Amanda Krantz 4/6/26

Evaluating a Planetarium Show and its Co-Creative Development Process for the Museum of Science, Boston

Amanda Krantz 2/4/26 Amanda Krantz 2/4/26

Exploring Visitor Experiences with Interpretation at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Cathy Sigmond 9/25/25 Cathy Sigmond 9/25/25

Assessing the Usability of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Digital Teaching Resource

Cathy Sigmond 8/20/25 Cathy Sigmond 8/20/25

Understanding Visitors’ Perceptions of American Art and Interpretation for the Baltimore Museum of Art’s American Wing

Cathy Sigmond 8/5/25 Cathy Sigmond 8/5/25

Understanding Visitor Experience in the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s “Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond” Exhibition

Cathy Sigmond 7/22/25 Cathy Sigmond 7/22/25

Helping Gallaudet University Shape a Documentary About Deaf People’s Contributions to the Space Race

Cathy Sigmond 4/14/25 Cathy Sigmond 4/14/25

Front-end and Formative Evaluation for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s Exhibition Residency

Cathy Sigmond 1/13/25 Cathy Sigmond 1/13/25

Seasonal Study of Visitors’ Experiences in the New MIT Museum’s Galleries

Cathy Sigmond 12/17/24 Cathy Sigmond 12/17/24

Keeping Audiences’ Needs Central When Creating a New Exhibition for a Science Center

Cathy Sigmond 12/11/24 Cathy Sigmond 12/11/24

Prototyping, Summative, and Process Evaluations for the Change Your Game / Cambia tu juego Project

Cathy Sigmond 12/9/24 Cathy Sigmond 12/9/24

Evaluating Visitors’ Experiences in Vesterheim’s Folk Art Galleries

Cathy Sigmond 12/4/24 Cathy Sigmond 12/4/24

Understanding Youth’s Perceptions of Science and Scientists at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Cathy Sigmond 9/20/24 Cathy Sigmond 9/20/24

Experimenting with an Institution-wide Strategy for Interpretation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Cathy Sigmond 8/20/24 Cathy Sigmond 8/20/24

Concept Testing Exhibit Ideas about Mental Health and Well Being in the Middle East

Guest User 7/10/24 Guest User 7/10/24

Exploring the Impact of an Inclusive Interpretation Initiative at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Cathy Sigmond 6/10/24 Cathy Sigmond 6/10/24

Refreshing a Popular Early Childhood Exhibition to Increase Science-Based Play and Exploration at the Science Center of Iowa

Cathy Sigmond 4/3/24 Cathy Sigmond 4/3/24

Impact Evaluation at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum

Cathy Sigmond 3/29/24 Cathy Sigmond 3/29/24

Focused Remediation of the Flagship Exhibition at George Washington’s Mount Vernon