Team: Alan Brown, Rebecca Ratzkin, Zachary Kemp
Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum engaged WolfBrown to assist in developing a clearer understanding of the Gardner’s public value and to support staff in deliberating how its programming might best leverage public support.
An extensive program of qualitative and quantitative research included:
- Research on non-users and their perceptions of the Gardner before, during, and after visiting.
- Interviews using metaphor elicitation to elicit deep thoughts and feelings about the Gardner.
- In-home ethnographic interviews with current supporters to make connections between the Gardner and daily life.
- A paired entrance/exit visitor survey, for the purpose of developing a holistic segmentation model of Museum visitors.
Staff members were engaged throughout the research as co-investigators. Results of the research were provided to staff and the board’s Long Range Planning Committee as key input to strategic planning efforts.