I am helping a museum/interpretive center revise its master plan and am
seeking feedback on the visitor/community input aspects of the process.
I'll start with a statement and then try to shape some questions around it.

It is amazing how uncritical visitors are about their experience.  "We like
it."  "We enjoyed it" predominate visitor comments, both on exit surveys and
focus groups.  The few critical comments we got were the most valuable,
however, as these people seem to understand the true shortcomings of the
current situation ( at least based on our evaluation of the site).

I guess my questions center around process and product in community/visitor
information seeking, especially in relation to upgrading facilities.  It
seems that most visitors have difficulty being critical about their
experiences in a way that can provide meaningful information to architects
and museum planners trying to make improvements.    This does not mean that
visitors do not provide valuable feedback, but rathers most are 'content'
with what they experience from the site; therefore deeper questioning is
needed or more people need to be queried in order to get those who can
provide more quality feedback. Is this a valid observation?  We have asked
the community and visitors in a variety of media and formats, and feel that
the process of asking has been as important as the information received.
The non-answers and the interpretation of the data have been more valuable
in unanticipated areas (organization issues, community support, etc) than
the pure answers to the questions posed by the team.

Also this observation: The people who have seem pleased with the experience
are spending their day with loved ones;  therefore their experience is
undeniably shaped/skewed by the interaction they have with one
another--moreso, perhaps, than how they experience the site and its
interpretation.  While this may not tell us much about how we need to
improve the museum, it does remind us that "shared experiences with loved
ones" are at the core of people's rationale for travel.

Other comments on this or related issues would be most appreciated.

Mike Teskey
CommunityFirst! Partners
phone 303-393-7623
fax: 303-394-9876

email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.csn.net/~tesk   (mostly complete)