Using Audience Research in Support of Strategic Planning at the Toledo Museum of Art

Written By Cathy Sigmond

Client: Toledo Museum of Art | Location: Toledo, OH

 
 

We surveyed walk-in visitors to the Toledo Museum of Art to help staff make data-informed decisions about museum experiences.

OVERVIEW

In 2016, we partnered with the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) to study their walk-in visitors. The museum had recently completed a strategic plan and report: 2020 Plan: From Vision to Reality, and, in doing so, realized they had many assumptions but little data about museum visitors to help direct their work. The museum approached us to conduct a study to help them understand who is coming to the museum and why, what they are doing while there, and how they prefer to experience the museum.

APPROACH

 We collected standardized questionnaires from walk-in visitors. Notably, 

  • Questionnaires were administered interview-style to enhance reliability

  • Sampling included all five entrances/exits to the museum (which has free admission)

  • Statistical analysis included frequencies and inferential statistics to look at the relation between demographics and museum experiences

  • K-means cluster analysis was used to segment audiences based on their preferences for art museum experiences.

CLIENT TAKEAWAYS

We found that there was a high percentage of repeat visitors to the TMA, revealing a strong, loyal base of supporters. However, per the museum’s goal of sustainability, the museum might consider a more balanced proportion of first-time and repeat visitors. This could also help increase the demographic diversity of the museum’s audience to better represent the local community, as related to diversity goals. Achieving community representation is a long-term institutional commitment and seeing the fruits of the labor may take a generation or two.  

From the cluster analysis, we identified four distinct groups of TMA visitors: Art Museum Enthusiasts (39%), Art Museum Contemplatives (26%), Interested Socials (21%), and Reticent Visitors (14%). The audience segmentation reminded the TMA of the diversity of audiences’ visiting preferences and helped them think about how they might meet visitors “where they are” in terms of their values. One audience segment is not necessarily more ideal than the other—they are simply distinct in how they value art museum experiences.  We generally recommend considering each audience segment in some way while designing exhibitions and programs.

Cathy Sigmond

Cathy brings many years of experience in education and experience design to her role as Head of Strategy at Kera Collective. 

Having previously worked in a variety of educational settings, Cathy is driven by her constant fascination and delight at how people make discoveries about the familiar and the unfamiliar. 

Cathy loves helping to shape experiences that spark curiosity and make a difference in people’s lives. She particularly enjoys the rapid, iterative nature of design-based research and the deep insights that come from qualitative research, especially on projects exploring interactions with the digital and built environments. 

Cathy shares her passion for experience design research widely and regularly guest lectures for graduate programs, including the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Exhibition and Experience Design Program and the Pratt Institute’s School of Information. Cathy served as the co-chair of the Museum Computer Network’s Human-Centered Design special interest group from 2018-2021.

Outside of work, you can usually find Cathy playing soccer, thrifting, or making her way through her large cookbook collection. 

Cathy’s favorite museum experiences are immersive; she will always vividly remember walking through the giant heart at the Franklin Institute, being surrounded by birds at the Peabody Essex Museum, and hearing centuries-old instruments come to life at the Museum of Musical Instruments. 

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