Timing and Tracking: Unlocking Visitor Behavior

ABSTRACT There is a long history of observing visitors in museums, with the majority of the systematic observational work being done in the past 20 years or so. This article reviews the history of timing and tracking in museums, and provides a detailed description of methods used to record, analyze and report timing and tracking data. New technologies that can be used to improve the data collection and entry process are discussed, and ways in which timing and tracking data can be used to improve exhibit design are suggested.