Context
The Natural History Museum wanted to dig deeper into how visitors experienced their Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre exhibition - from curious families to passionate bird specialists. They wanted to know what people took away from the experience, how well it met the exhibition’s learning goals, and how it supported the museum’s environmental ambitions. That’s where we came in.
We used a mix of methods to get a rounded picture of what visitors really thought and felt. This included focus groups before and after visits with bird enthusiasts, museum regulars, and people new to the museum. We also spoke one-to-one with families, tracked visitor behaviour, ran on-site interviews, and sent a digital exit survey to everyone who came through.
To build on what was already known, we brought in existing visitor data. We also ran training for the museum’s team so they could carry out future evaluations themselves, and created a practical toolkit to help with this.
The research gave the museum a clear picture of how different audiences experienced the exhibition and what could be improved next time. It highlighted what resonated most with visitors and offered a reliable way to measure how exhibitions contribute to Natural History Museum’s environmental goals. The findings are already feeding into new projects - including upcoming exhibitions at the museum. We’re continuing to work with NHM to build on this approach and explore how evaluation can support future exhibitions and programmes.
