A Catalyst for Change and Deeper Audience Engagement? Visitor Insight, Research, and Evaluation at the British Museum 2005–2025

This paper selectively focuses on the introduction and most significant impacts of visitor research and evaluation at the British Museum (BM) from about 2005 onwards. Its primary focus is the influence of evaluation on the curation, interpretation, and display of the collection, both charged‐for exhibitions and free displays. This culture shift took place under former Director Neil MacGregor and was linked to wider changes in the sector and specific innovations at the BM, including the creation of an Interpretation Team in 2005. The BM's first motivation‐based audience segmentation model was developed in collaboration with Morris Hargreaves McIntyre (MHM), who from 2005 onwards conducted an annual visitor survey for the BM. At the same time formative and summative evaluation began to be commissioned systematically for all charged‐for special exhibitions, a practice that became embedded and that continues today. From 2006 onwards the Interpretation Team also began to undertake evaluation in house to inform the refreshment and redisplay of permanent galleries and to assess the effectiveness of the new displays. Evaluation and visitor research significantly changed the way the Museum thought about its audience when developing new displays. This paper describes and reflects upon the institutional impact and learning, identifying the most significant changes driven by this evaluation.