Reports, Conferences, and Publications

Better understanding visitors through data

This session presented visitor data and shared experiences from participation in the Collaboration for Ongoing Visitor Experience Studies (COVES), a national project designed to unite museums in systematically collecting audience-level data, with a focus on institutional and field-wide improvement.

Attendees to this session saw aggregated data from more than 70 participating museums across the country, including ratings such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Overall Experience Ratings (OER), along with visitor demographics and motivations. They also learned about differences in visitor data between institutions of various size, geography, and type. We discuss appropriate methods for collecting valid and reliable data (hint: it's NOT through email blasts!), tracking data collection, and using data to inform conversations internally and externally. Opportunities to participate are also discussed.

Session presented at the 2023 New England Museum Association annual conference in Portland, ME. 

Click here to view the slides:

Recommended Citation: Auster, R. & Muniappan, B. (2023). Better understanding visitors through data [Conference Session]. New England Museum Association annual conference, Portland, ME.