National Museum of American History Surveys

Overview

I redesigned post-visit surveys to collect more actionable feedback.

Problem

The existing surveys were vague and did not reflect different visitor needs.

Solution

Designed page-specific surveys (Exhibitions, Collections, Visit, Stories, General) with clear, concise questions tailored to user intent. Introduced a consistent “Feedback” CTA across the site.

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Process

Research

Insights from ForeSee data and The Met’s example surveys informed the structure and wording of each page-specific survey.

Image titled ‘User Feedback and Data’ showing research findings, with ForeSee data identifying top users (history-interested visitors, students, teachers, and visitors) and outside research from The Met displaying reasons for visiting an online collection.

Ideation

  • Developed draft surveys per page type.

  • Iterated question wording to reduce bias and complexity.

  • Gathered internal feedback before finalizing survey content.
Handwritten survey planning notes on graph paper proposing questions to measure user expertise and familiarity, such as self-rated knowledge levels, confidence on a 1–5 scale, and familiarity with exhibitions and collections showcased on specific pages.
Final survey design with questions to understand the user's reasoning for visiting the specific website page and their self-rater knowledge levels.

Collaboration

I worked with the Digital Experience team to analyze survey wording. Together, we integrated these surveys onto the site. 

Definition and Design

User Segmentation

Users have diverse motivations and knowledge levels.

I designed a segmentation approach that grouped users by behavior and self-identified goals. Page-specific surveys targeted each group while keeping surveys concise and approachable. 

These user segments guided the survey structure.

User segmentation graphic for the National Museum of American History illustrating six audiences with icons: artifact-interested visitors, researchers, students, teachers, visit planners, and general browsers, each labeled with their primary needs.

Encouraging Honest Feedback

Users may feel pressured to answer positively or avoid admitting gaps in knowledge.

We phrased questions to avoid judgment and reduce bias by using neutral, supportive language. This allowed users to answer honestly about their experience and knowledge.

User segmentation study under the category "generalized" knowledge of American History.
User segmentation study under the category "specialized" knowledge of American History.

Final Surveys

Each survey is activated on their respective pages targeting more specific feedback from users.

Image of museum survey about the museum's collection pages and the user's reason for visiting.
Image of museum survey about the museum's exhibition pages and the user's reason for visiting.
Image of museum survey about the museum's stories pages and the user's reason for visiting.
Image of museum survey about the museum's visit page and the user's reason for visiting.

Impact

The museum now uses a modular survey structure that can be adapted or expanded as content changes, creating a more flexible system for future research.

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This project strengthened my ability to design clear, focused survey questions. 

I learned how small wording choices influence user honesty and data quality, and how important it is to balance research needs with the user’s time.

It also reinforced the value of collaborating with content and research teams to create tools that scale across different parts of a large website.

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