In 2015-16, cultural organizations across the United States, joined by partners in Canada and Australia, banded together to better understand museum website visitor motivation. This was not just a research study, but a community of museums looking to better understand their online audiences. The survey comprised a single question about what motivated users in going to the website that day. Focussing on identity-related motivations (rather than demographics or behaviors), the survey responses aligned with museum researcher John Falk’s Predictive Model for Museum Visitation—Explorer, Facilitator, Professional/Hobbyist, Recharger, and Seeker. Led by Sarah Wambold, Director of Digital Media at the Clyfford Still Museum, and Marty Spellerberg, of Spellerberg Associates, the project culls more than 16 weeks of data across 23 different museum websites. This is the first survey to utilize Falk’s framework online, the first focused primarily on small- and medium-sized organizations, and the first in the US to view the data in aggregate. The study provided representatives from participating museums the opportunity to discuss their findings, highlighting patterns that emerged across the various institutions. In order to facilitate those exchanges, professionals from each institution have met online using Slack, asking questions and sharing knowledge. In this forum we will bring this dialogue to life and the voices of MCN attendees into the conversation.

1. National Museum Website Visitor Motivation Survey
PROFESSIONAL FORUM

2. Marty Spellerberg
Consultant
MCN 201602

3. Explorer
The need to
satisfy personal
curiosity &
interest in an
intellectually
challenging
environment
Facilitator
The wish to
engage in a
meaningful
social
experience
Experience
Seeker
The aspiration
to be exposed
to the things
and ideas that
exemplify what
is best and
most important
within a culture
or community
Professional
or Hobbyist
The desire to
further specific
intellectual
needs in a
setting with a
specific subject
matter focus
Recharger
The yearning to
physically,
emotionally, &
intellectually
recharge in a
beautiful and
refreshing
environment

6. Art21 ○ Art Gallery of Ontario
Aspen Art Museum ○ Chicago Architecture Foundation
Chinese American Museum Los Angeles ○ Clockshop
Clyfford Still Museum ○ Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
de Young Museum ○ Hammer Museum
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston ○ Illinois Holocaust Museum
Legion of Honor ○ The Menil Collection
Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
Nasher Sculpture Center ○ Portland Art Museum
Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History ○ Warhol Museum
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

7. Tricia Robson
Assistant Director of Web & Digital Production
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
MCN 201607

8. de Young Museum, San Francisco

9. Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco

10. famsf.org Overview
Fiscal Year 2015–16
Sessions: 4+ million
Pageviews: 14+ million
Pages/Session Avg: 3.30
Avg. Session Duration: 00:02:28
Visitation trends:
Most highly trafficked sections of site include: Visit pages, Ticketing, Exhibitions pages, and
Calendar pages
High visitor drop off rate & not a ton of deep engagement

11. Visitor Motivation Survey Goals
1. Institutional benchmarking
2. Test assumptions based on web analytics
3. Internal project support / buy-in

12. Visitor Motivation Survey Overview
Time frame: February 22–June 19, 2016 (17 weeks in total)
Response rate: ~2,500 total sessions, with ~11,500 pageviews

13. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
What is the primary motivation for
visiting our website?

14. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
“Planning activities for friends/family” was cited as the primary motivation
for ~60% of visitors to famsf.org (Facilitator category).

15. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Pageviews show high visitation rates for Facilitators, but actual
engagement remains shallow / highly focused.
Pageviews # %
Explorer 2,103 18.39%
Facilitator 6,742 58.95%
Professional 1,565 13.68%
Recharger 845 7.39%
Seeker 182 1.59%
TOTAL 11,437 100.00%

16. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Which visitors show the most
prolonged engagement online?

17. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Highest engagement rates amongst “Explorers” and “Professionals.”
Pages/Session # %
Explorer 5.79 24.88%
Facilitator 4.39 18.87%
Professional 7.45 32.02%
Recharger 3.28 14.10%
Seeker 2.36 10.14%
TOTAL 23.27 100.00%

18. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Highest engagement rates amongst “Explorers” and “Professionals.”
Avg. Session Duration Minutes/Seconds
Explorer 00:05:46
Facilitator 00:03:46
Professional 00:07:42
Recharger 00:02:58
Seeker 00:01:22

19. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
How do different motivation
categories impact visitation trends
online?

20. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Homepages received high visitation rates for all categories, but Facilitators
were most likely to purchase tickets.
de Young
homepage
Legion of Honor
homepage
Tickets
All Users 2,133,154 (37.28%) 739,232 (12.92%) 1,645,286 (28.75%)
Facilitator 3,815 (56.59%) 1,313 (19.47%) 1,160 (17.21%)
Explorer 1,181 (56.15%) 321 (15.26%) 133 (6.32%)
Professional 335 (21.41%) 119 (7.60%) 0 (0.00%)
Recharger 517 (61.11%) 210 (24.82%) 63 (7.45%)
Seeker 112 (61.54%) 14 (7.69%) 0 (0.00%)

21. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Facilitators and Seekers had higher visitation rates on Visit pages.
Professionals and Explorers most likely to shop online.
Visit pages
(de Young)
Exhibition pages
(de Young)
Shop
All Users 157,138 (2.75%) 186,614 (3.26%) 403,312 (7.05%)
Facilitator 245 (3.63%) 196 (2.90%) 35 (0.52%)
Explorer 7 (0.33%) 42 (1.99%) 419 (19.92%)
Professional 7 (0.45%) 14 (0.89%) 943 (60.26%)
Recharger 0 (0.00%) 14 (1.65%) 0 (0.00%)
Seeker 14 (7.69%) 0 (0.00%) 7 (3.85%)

22. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Facilitator user paths centered primarily on homepages, exhibitions,
ticketing, and visit pages.

23. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Explorer user paths centered primarily on homepages, exhibitions, shopping
site, and learn/events pages.

24. Visitor Motivation Survey Results
Confirmed many of our website data assumptions
Offered a platform to evaluate data against peer institutions
Helped garner support for upcoming web refresh project

25. Web Refresh Project Goal & Outline
Goal: Evolve the FAMSF websites with a new responsive, user-centric design to
elevate the de Young and Legion of Honor’s respective personalities while
keeping consistent, systematic layouts and structure.
Outline: Time-sensitive style refresh focused on creating style themes and
page templates for key landing pages.

26. Web Refresh Project Approach

27. Web Refresh Project Key Focus Areas
Homepages (de Young, Legion of Honor, FAMSF)
Exhibition pages (special, general)
Visit page
Collections landing page
Give & Join page
Navigation

28. Web Refresh Project Initial Discovery

29. Visitor Motivation Survey Takeaways

30. Jessica Warchall
Communications Manager
The Andy Warhol Museum
MCN 201630

31. Visitor Motivation & A Website Redesign
Photo © Abby Warhola

32. Photo © Abby Warhola

33. warhol.org
August 1, 2015 – July 31, 3016
Sessions: 1.16 million
Pageviews: 2.62 million
Average session duration: 1:38
Pages / session: 2.4
Among our most visited pages are the collections page and visit pages. Average
time on pages are :49 and 2:06, respectively.

34. Why participate in VMS?
1. To confirm our assumptions about who is visiting warhol.org
2. Gather data to inform our 2016–17 website redesign
Photo © Abby Warhola

35. VMS on warhol.org
Duration: November 2015 – May 2016
Sessions: 1,386
Page views: 7,877

36. VMS Results
Nearly 39% of visitors were motivated to visit warhol.org “to plan an activity for my
family/friends.”*
Nearly 22% of visitors were motivated to visit warhol.org "for professional reasons.”*
*Based on sessions

37. VMS Results
Visitors planning an activity had the most pageviews, but professionals had
deeper engagement with warhol.org.
Pageviews # %
Explorer 1258 15.97%
Facilitator 2820 35.80%
Professional 2338 29.68%
Recharger 1114 14.14%
Seeker 347 4.41%
Total 7877 100.00%
Pages / Session # %
Explorer 5.20 18.68%
Facilitator 5.23 18.79%
Professional 7.85 28.20%
Recharger 4.74 17.03%
Seeker 4.82 17.31%
Total 27.84 100.00%

38. Where are these visitors spending time?
Collection
Facilitator 105
Professional 337
Calendar
Facilitator 740
Professional 509
Education
Facilitator 72
Professional 149
Visit
Facilitator 807
Professional 165
Pageviews

40. Implementation
Phase I
Communications tool
Target locals and tourists planning a
visit to The Warhol or looking to
attend one of its programs.
Focus on robust calendar, ticketing,
visitor information, and exhibitions
pages.
Phase II
Online destination for Andy Warhol
Target scholars and researchers
looking for information about
Warhol.
Focus on collections, education
resources, and biography pages.

41. Jacques Haba
Digital Media Manager
Nasher Sculpture Center
MCN 201641

42. Nasher Sculpture Center | Dallas, TX

43. Overview - All Traffic | Dec 1, 2015 to Apr 30, 2016
Sessions: 119,420
Pageviews: 568,582
Pages/Session Avg: 4.76
Average Session Duration: 1 min 54 sec
Context: Nasher Prize (International Sculpture Award)
Spring Break District Block Party
The Great Create (Fundraising event)
Dallas Art Fair

44. Visitor Motivation Survey | Dec 1, 2015 to Apr 30, 2016
Sessions # %
Explorer 117 11.14%
Facilitator 486 47.51%
Professional 309 30.21%
Recharger 81 7.92%
Seeker 30 2.93%
1023 100%

45. Facilitator - What do they tell us about our content?
Facilitator holds true to Falk’s entry motivation
Planning a leisure activity
Texas daytripper planning a museum visit
Some plan towards a specific event
Quick logistical planning - admission & parking
Not discovering additional resources helpful to planning
Low visitor loyalty

46. Facilitator - Who makes up the majority?
Female 60% Male 40%
25-34 year old
on average 30% more
spend 20% less time in a session
18-24 year old
40% less than average

47. Facilitator - “Successful” Demographic
45-54 year old woman
slightly less sessions but more engagement
20% more time on site
women spent 3 min longer per session
more goal conversions
Google Analytic Goal Examples:
Admission ticket purchase | Contact Us | Email signup | Resource download

48. Facilitator - What interests them across the Internet?
Potential Interests (Affinity)
Movie Lover
TV Lover
Travel Buff
Technophiles
News Junkies (Entertainment)
High Interests (In-Market)
Travel/Hotels & Accommodations
Travel/Air Travel
Real Estate / Residential Properties
Employment
Education / Post-Secondary Education
Entertainment | Travel | Education

49. Facilitator - Local, National or International?
Expection:
More national and international traffic
Discovery:
A majority are within Texas
Predominantly in Dallas/Ft.Worth area

50. Facilitator - Are they aware of our brand?
26% of traffic has some awareness
awareness from Direct traffic, Email campaigns and Facebook
Facebook traffic more event-centric planning
Referral traffic (excluding social media) predominantly from local media
DFW Child, Dallas Observer, CBS Local(DFW), DMagazine
Landing on the homepage

51. Facilitator - What content does the majority view?
60% of traffic planning visit to Nasher Sculpture Center
2nd interaction: Visit section - Hours & Admissions
4th interaction: Traffic drops below half
3rd interaction: 27% traffic drops off with remaining split between
Visit section - Directions, Maps & Parking
Art section - Exhibitions and On View
artworks
1st interaction: Begins on the homepage

52. Facilitator - What content do others view?
20% of traffic planning visit to specific event
1st interaction: Begins in Engage section
2nd interaction: Drop off after one interaction or
Stay within Engage section
Subsequent interaction: Specific events
til midnight at the Nasher
(March 18, 2016)
Soundings: New Music at the
Nasher (April 29, 2016)
Target First Saturday (March 5,

53. Facilitator - Future Plans
Consolidating logistical content - increase visitor value
Encourage deeper-dive in planning - time on site with knowledge layer
Expand our reach - reevaluate marketing & social media campaigns
Tailor content to gain visitor loyalty
Surveys - pair quantified data with qualified data
Benchmarks - compare & learn with other cultural institutions

54. Contact Me - More insights
Want to talk about Google Analytics or benchmark metrics?
Jacques Haba
jhaba@nashersculpturecenter.org
@jacqueyewokey

55. Susan Edwards
Associate Director, Digital Content
Hammer Museum
@jolifanta
MCN 201655

60. Why Join VMS?
● Benchmarking
● Understand online visitors
● Mini-redesign
● Parallel project using Falk Types

61. VMS Numbers
TIME FRAME
February 23–June 9, 2016
13 weeks, 3 days
RESPONSE RATE
1,751 sessions
1,695 users
9,458 pageviews

62. TIME FRAME
February 23–June 9, 2016
13 weeks, 3 days
RESPONSE RATE
1,751 sessions = 0.7% of all
1,695 users = 0.84% of all
9,458 pageviews = 1.6% of all
VMS Numbers

63. TIME ON SITE
Survey takers averaged 4:52 - 5:29
All users averaged 1:28
→ Survey takers are very engaged
VMS Numbers

64. VMS Numbers

65. Visit Exhibitions Made in LA
(subset of Ex)
Programs Collection About Us Home
Explorer 6% 25% 5% 29% 4% 3% 12%
Facilitator 13% 24% 3% 30% 3% 1% 15%
Professional 7% 27% 7% 13% 5% 11% 13%
Recharger 13% 25% 4% 22% 8% 2% 16%
Seeker 9% 36% 10% 17% 7% 5% 17%
% of all sessions for each type
VMS Numbers

66. METHODOLOGY
In-person interviews
Design Thinking process / develop user types modeled on Falk Types
Survey of members in free program
A question about motivation to visit (similar to VMS) mapped to user types.
A Parallel Study

67. Interview Visitors
Goal = Empathize with visitors and Define their needs when visiting
Empathy Map Point of View Statement
A Parallel Study

68. Rechargers
Cultural
Enthusiasts
Passersby
Explorers
Pilgrim Third-place
Seeker
Status
Seeker
Professional
Facilitator
Culture Mom
A Parallel Study

69. SURVEY
2,403 people received the survey
January–February 2016
347 responded to the survey = 14%
A Parallel Study

70. Why do you come to the Hammer?
● I am curious and want to learn about art.
● want to share an experience with others.
● My children enjoy it and it is also culturally
interesting to me.
● To gain proximity to artists, curators, and
contemporary thinkers.
● I like to hang out in the space.
● I want to get away from the noise of my
everyday life.
● To research works of art.
● It’s a place to see quality art.
● To attend a lecture, talk, or film screening.
● To earn a point towards a Participate-level
membership

71. Falk Types
Explorers
Professionals
Rechargers
Facilitators
Experience-Seekers
Motivation to earn a point

72. Free Member
Survey
VMS Web
Visitor Survey

73. Interviews & Survey = no Experience Seekers
Website = 7% Experience Seekers
→ Our biennial is a draw for Experience Seekers.
→ Knowing this, can we target these audiences?
We do have “destination” programming.
Insight #1

74. Interviews & Survey =
Facilitation not primary motivation for visiting.
BUT many of interviewees were visiting with others.
Website = Facilitators
→ Facilitation may be a strong SECONDARY motivator.
→ What do facilitators need from us?
We need to consider Facilitators.
Insight #2

75. On-site and online visit motivations are different.
Insight #3
Interviews = Explorers & Rechargers
Members = Explorers, Rechargers & Professionals
Website = Facilitators & Professionals
→ The website is a different place than our physical space.
→ What is the relationship between these experiences?
→ We need to survey our larger visiting public.

76. Alli Burness
Digital Designer, ThinkPlace
Previously Digital Producer, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
MCN 201676

77. VMS at the Museum of
Applied Arts and Sciences
aka The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Alli Burness @alli_burnie

78. Recharger
Facilitator
Explorer
Seeker
Professional
Falk’s Segments
Essence
Release
Stimulation
Enrichment
Expression
Affirmation
Entertainment
Perspective
Predictive Descriptive
Which segments to use at MAAS?
Culture Segments

79. Two MAAS Websites: New One… 66%
Facilitators

80. Two MAAS Websites: Old One… 66% Professionals

81. I enjoy the meditation of spending time
with historical objects and telling their story.
I have an interest in history beyond my work.
I like connecting with the items and
personal stories.
Visitors researching a topic also want to be inspired
Interviewing MAAS Online Collection Users

82. Jobs Stories for MAAS Online Collection
Professional
or Hobbyist
When I want to explore an object
I want to see all aspects
So I understand the depth of knowledge surrounding it
Recharger
When I want to create or make something
I want to look at the MAAS online collection
So I get inspired

83. User Flows

84. Social onsite Research online
Falk’s Visitor Motivations at MAAS
Museum Collection

85. Jonathan Munar
Director of Digital Media and Strategy
Art21
MCN 201685

87. WHY PARTICIPATE IN VMS?
Art21.org redesign
Was already preparing RFP
Art21 is not a museum
But our mission/audiences/challenges overlap

88. Visitor Sessions Pages / Session
Avg. Session
Duration
Bounce Rate
Dismiss 6,173 9.73 0:11:15 6.92%
Professional 204 10.45 0:12:21 6.86%
Explorer 164 7.07 0:08:36 7.93%
Recharger 91 10.19 0:13:02 8.79%
Seeker 47 15.91 0:14:31 8.51%
Facilitator 16 6.62 0:10:48 0.00%
DATA: ART21.ORG, DECEMBER 2015–APRIL 2016

89. VMS TAKEAWAYS
Art21’s role in relation to museums
Art21.org is primarily a resource and destination for content
(Most) museum websites are primarily visit-planning tools*
*But also have lots of great content!

90. VMS TAKEAWAYS
Better facilitate Educators
Improved production and placement of educator-focused content
Develop tools for classroom use (playlists, watchlists, etc.)

91. VMS TAKEAWAYS
Encourage content discovery
Improve relationships between related content
Design video pages as content paths as opposed to dead ends
Design artist pages as robust indexes

98. VMS TAKEAWAYS
Respondents are highly engaged

99. Visitor Sessions Pages / Session
Avg. Session
Duration
Bounce Rate
Dismiss 6,173 9.73 0:11:15 6.92%
Professional 204 10.45 0:12:21 6.86%
Explorer 164 7.07 0:08:36 7.93%
Recharger 91 10.19 0:13:02 8.79%
Seeker 47 15.91 0:14:31 8.51%
Facilitator 16 6.62 0:10:48 0.00%
All visits 385,070 3.38 0:02:55 60.30%
DATA: ART21.ORG, DECEMBER 2015–APRIL 2016

100. VMS TAKEAWAYS
Respondents are highly engaged
These are our power users
Consider placing additional surveys and calls for feedback
Consider opportunities for placing other calls to action

102. Sarah Wambold
Director of Digital Media
Clyfford Still Museum
MCN 2016102

103. VISITOR MOTIVATION ONLINE
23 institutions / 513 weeks of data / 72,585 records
Facilitator
To plan an activity for my family/friends
Professional
For professional reasons
Explorer
To learn something new
Recharger
For inspiration
Seeker
Because the museum was recommended to me

104. ENCYCLOPEDIC ART MUSEUMS
Facilitator
Professional
Explorer
Recharger
Seeker

105. COMMUNITY CENTRIC
Facilitator
Professional
Explorer
Recharger
Seeker

106. Santa Cruz MAH
PROFESSIONAL SEGMENT
Houston Craft Aspen

107. CONTEMPORARY PROGRAM
Facilitator
Professional
Explorer
Recharger
Seeker

108. Facilitator
Professional
Explorer
Recharger
Seeker
???

109. Facilitator
Professional
Explorer
Recharger
Seeker
Anomalies

110. https://www.arrays.co/array/visitor_motivation_survey-r2/pie-set

111. Marty Spellerberg, Project co-leader, @halfempty
Tricia Robson, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Jessica Warchall, The Andy Warhol Museum, @je321ss
Jacques Haba, Nasher Sculpture Center, @jacqueyewok
Susan Edwards, Hammer Museum, @jolifanta
Alli Burness, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences,
@alli_burnie
Jonathan Munar, Art21, @jonnymoon
Sarah Wambold, Clyfford Still Museum / Project co-leader,
@sarahwambold
MCN 2016111