Audience Research: Understanding Visitors and Their Experiences at Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall

Please Touch Museum (PTM) contracted with Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. to study their visitors' experiences and perceptions of play in the context of the Museum and its strategic priorities. Four methodologies were employed to study visitors standardized questionnaires, in-depth interviews, timing and tracking observations, and focused observations. Methodologies were selected to provide PTM with a broad picture of visitors' entire Museum experience, as well as visitors' experiences with specific exhibitions of interest. PTM's interest further extends to their adult visitors' perceptions of play in the context of the Museum; thus, each methodology also explored this idea to provide staff with a holistic picture of visitors' perceptions of play. Findings from this study include: Most adult visitors primarily value PTM as a place for their children to have unique, fun experiences. Adult visitors reported enjoying a wide range of exhibits, and, in general, preferred exhibit experiences that are active, hands-on, and encourage pretend play. Adult visitors' experiences with toy collections, works of art, and the historic building varied, with some having no awareness of these elements and others fully appreciating them. Many adults perceived their role at PTM as facilitating and actively playing alongside their children; however, observations indicate that adults more often provided an instructional or supervisory role than a playful, collaborative one About one-fifth of adult visitors explicitly associated play at PTM with learning and education; another one-third talked about play at PTM in regard to their children's development of specific skills and abilities, such as experimentation and imagination, although they never talked explicitly about learning.

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