The authors’ path multinomial logit, or pathway MNL, model does not reveal causality, they caution, but the associations they uncover are informative for museum professionals.
Multimedia guide users mostly visited the recommended artworks in the suggested order. Lisa van den Bos, the museum’s product manager for digital education, said she was surprised that subtle ordering changes in the guide had such an impact on traffic as the research continued. “We really have a lot of power in how we move people,” he said.
Visitors were looking for variety in time and size, but consistency in theme and theme, the team found. Time pressure also influenced choices; As time went by during a particular visit, people preferred to see masterpieces more and more.
Perhaps surprisingly, the data revealed that cramming can increase engagement. “When there are more people, at least a certain number of … people are more likely to go and look at works of art that they haven’t seen,” Deshmane said. Density around the painting can also be taken as a signal of quality.
Reorganizing permanent collections can be difficult due to space or thematic constraints, but museums can often experiment with exhibition or gallery spaces, where shorter time frames and lower infrastructure requirements allow for easier changes, Deshmane said.
Instead of actually performing moving pieces, the researchers used simulation to create new layouts and predict the likely reactions of visitors. Based on their simulations, they found that moving highly engaging art from leaky spaces (such as stairs or elevators) and strategically repositioning pieces can lead visitors to see more art and stay longer without compromising curatorial goals. In addition, data-driven planning of digital plans can help visitors understand art through new perspectives, even without accompanying physical action, said Gundy van Dijk, the museum’s head of education and interpretation.
