Overview
I worked as an intern at the National Museum of American History (NMAH) Spring 2024. I was a website content manager intern. I was tasked with updating the website on Drupal as the museum was transitioning to a newer version (Drupal version 10). This involved transferring the website exhibitions to Drupal 10. The old website exhibitions were not responsive and so this required reworking. Likewise, I expressed interest in updating the website’s surveys. Originally, the website had a main survey for the site that asked its users to rate their overall user experience, then write out a review if they felt compelled.
As I learned how to use Drupal and I explored the site, I was impressed with the size. This was a big website designed to accommodate all types of users and audiences. I began to speculate that different types of users were using different parts of the website. For instance, different users using the visitor page versus exhibitions pages. I recognized that I could have been wrong. However, there were no clear ways to test this in place. I felt that developing new surveys could help steer design choices in the right direction.
The Smithsonian Institution’s goal is to educate and inspire all audiences. This is a difficult user audience to work with. By creating more specific user surveys for each significant page in the website, we created a method to define what was missing. I worked with the Digital Experience team at NMAH which consisted of three employees. They provided me with continuous feedback and help.
Platform
Foresee
Problem
Specific user needs are difficult to pin down. The National Museum of American History needed a way to better define their users and their needs.
Solution
In order to better define users the museum’s website implemented new user surveys located on specific pages of the website. These surveys were designed in the program Foresee. These surveys were divided between the exhibitions, stories, visit and collections pages.
Process
When first approaching survey design I drew inspiration from other museum surveys and their user research methodologies. Despite The Met being an art museum, I was inspired its approach. The Met conducted a study to understand who their users were. The museum focused on user segmentation which defined the users’ motivation and general profile. Likewise, this was divided by knowledge of art. This way, The Met can defend future design decisions because they are based on user feedback.
I also conducted research on standard survey design methods. Before creating a survey there needs to be a clear goal. The goal in this case was to define users and their needs for specific website pages. The designer should recognize and remove any bias through wording. Wording should be short and concise. There should not be multiple things asked in one question.
1. Define Users
2. Collect Data (surveys)
3. Adjust Profiles
4. Implement Design
Surveys
Exhibitions Page Surveys
Visit Page Survey
Collections Page Survey
Stories Page Survey
General survey for Home Page
Reflection
Similar to The Met these surveys aimed to segment users via user knowledge. However, instead of dividing it into three sections, we divided it into two: (general and specialized). We went back and forth on wording but ultimately stuck with the leading question, “which best describes your reason for viewing the.... today?” We kept the word “describe” to ask the user their knowledge of American history for consistency. This allowed me practice with UX writing and research. In order to view the surveys click on the red feedback button on the right-hand side.