PART 3 - DEVELOPING THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE

Summary

In my experience, most people who have a passion for this sector don't want to merely manage the status quo. We are constantly looking to evolve and develop the experiences we deliver, adapting and flexing to meet changing needs and trying new things to engage our visitors in different ways. Therefore, this final section of the book looks at the skills and tools we need to do exactly that.

As Visitor Experience professionals, we rarely work in silos. We have interdependencies with other departments, and must work with others to best serve the visitors. Therefore, if we want to develop and evolve our experiences, we must also become advocates for them. Chapter 11 explores different methods of doing this, with a case study from the Mary Rose Museum to show these methods in practice.

In order to develop our experiences, we must first have an accurate picture of the current reality, and a way of measuring our development as we progress. Chapter 12 therefore explores different methods for measuring the quality of the visitor experience, highlighting a blended approach from the Natural History Museum to show that there is no one-size-fits all solution when it comes to visitor evaluation.

‘Creating a Visitor Experience Strategy’, which is the title of Chapter 13, may sound as though it's only relevant to national museums who develop and deliver all sorts of big ‘strategies’ on a regular basis. However, a Visitor Experience Strategy can be as simple as making a quick but bold decision about what audience you serve and how you do it, as the case study from the community-focused London Museum of Water and Steam will show.

Continuing development and engagement of your Visitor Experience team is absolutely critical to the development of the visitor experience. Without a team that is consistently engaged and learning, you will struggle to keep the experiences you deliver fresh. Chapter 14 examines continuing employee engagement and training programmes, whilst Chapter 15 explores how a culture of innovation can be fostered within your team.

Finally, all of these approaches will mean change for your team and your organisation, so it seemed only fitting to finish with a chapter, Chapter 16, exploring change management strategies and how they fit within the Visitor Experience context.