Helping Visitors Budget Time at Your Museum

Have you ever thought about how your museum guests plan their visit and budget their time? Lets look at an example of a typical grade school field trip:

8:30 till 10:00 (1.5hrs) Leave the school and travel to museum

10:00 till 10:30 (30 mins) Ticketing and orientation and potty break 

10:30 till 12:00 (1.5 hrs) Gallery visit

12:00 till 12:45 (45 mins) Lunch

12:45 till 1:00 (15 mins) Gift shop and potty break

1:00 till 2:45 (1.5hrs) Travel back to school

How long did they spend at the museum?

How long did they spend doing "deep thinking?"

How long did they spend getting an overall impression of the museum?

The answer to the last question should include the time used to plan the trip. Planning starts at home while using the museum's website to learn more about the things your group can do during the visit. But how long - on average - does each activity take?

The Kansas Cosmosphere has a handy online guide to help their guest plan their day BEFORE they leave home. The guide helps them plan in advance in the quite of their home or office where better concentration can occur. Their guests can then wisely budget their time before leaving, and hopefully have a better overall perception of the Cosmosphere throughout the day and after returning home.

What methods are you using to help visitors budget their time?

In the future I will write about the concept of cognitive mapping to help your visitor budget their time.