At 06:55 AM 11/24/95 -0700, you wrote:
>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).

One difficulty may be the nature of the instrument you are using to get
information. (Exactly what you have done isn't clear.)  Asking open-ended
questions such as "how did you like it" often garner a favorable response.
People will tell you what they think you want to hear.    You might try
exploring other methods to get at underlying attitudes; semantic
differential or questions using a scalar response come to mind, off hand.
If you feel that there are specific problems with the site or exhibits,
study of visitor behavior to see how people are (or are not) interacting
with the exhibits might be revealing.

It is also possible that the shortcomings you have identified with the site
are derived from an agenda not shared by your visitors.  The facility might
not meet your needs, but it is adequate from the visitor's standpoint.

In areas of interpretation, it the visiotr understands the message that you
are trying to convey, then you've done your job.

>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.

Exactly.  Our agenda as museum professionals is not the same as the
visitor's agenda for attending.  If the visitor's agenda is met, i.e., they
had a good time with friends and family, then they will be satisfied with
the experience.  For most visitors, I think, the affective experience is
secondary, whereas we see it as of primary importance.  These positions are
not at odds, but it does make it difficult to determine when our genda is
being fulfilled.
___________________________________________
Dennis Dolan,    Admin Support Fellow
University of Oregon Arts & Administration Program
email:            [log in to unmask]
home page:   http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~ddolan/index.html
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