From Goals to Observations: A Planning Worksheet
Let’s get comfortable connecting goals to observable behaviors.
Hi there! This is Erin Wilcox, following up on this letter re: what you’ve learned from visitor observations. We had a great first Heat Mapping Lab and I’m looking forward to version 2.0 in the spring. But I wanted to check back before that with some reflections.
The responses we heard to our initial prompt (“what have you learned from observing visitors?”) were mostly general findings, which makes total sense. For example:
most visitors spend less time looking than you expect
visitors tend to turn right when they enter a gallery
some visitors follow the flow the museum suggests, while others do their own thing
My first thoughts when I read these responses: I wonder how familiar MAP community members are with observing specific behaviors related to set outcomes/goals — and how comfortable they are connecting goals to observable behaviors.
This points to a conversation I’ve had often with clients and colleagues: Are there goals for the projects/programs we’re working on? And how often are we writing and defining and agreeing on those goals at the beginning of a project, or at least prior to observing visitors?
So, here’s an exercise that may be useful to you, whether you’re participating in our next heat mapping lab or not.
Start by thinking about a project (or program) you’re working on for visitors.
Consider what you think would be a successful engagement with that project for a visitor. In other words, what do you want the visitor to come away from the project having experienced?
Once you have those goals for the visitor, determine what behaviors you could observe the visitor doing during the experience which would provide evidence that the goal is being achieved. For example, does the visitor physically use an interactive component? Does the visitor stop and watch a video for a certain amount of time?
This exercise seems simple, but it can get complicated before it becomes clear. So below is a downloadable worksheet that might help you organize your thoughts. Try it on your own! Or maybe work on it with two colleagues to hear their perspectives and perhaps align your ideas.
One last thing: this is a quick view into the beginning of the Heat Mapping Lab. While it might seem unrelated, we start this way (by discussing the goals for a project) in order to develop a protocol for observing visitors. That protocol is the tool for collecting the data which we analyze to design the heat map. Because you can’t have a heat map without the data.
I hope you find this useful. Feel free to share your feedback about this exercise in a comment on this post or in a reply to today’s letter. I’d love to talk! And, if you’d like a more guided experience in applying goal setting and heat mapping to your work, you can register for the next iteration of my heat mapping lab.
Erin
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