During the discover phase of our research,
we visited major London museums, focusing on encyclopedic Museum like the V&A and the British Museum. We targeted foreign students and young people as our main audience, reflecting the museum sector’s growing emphasis on these groups to enhance inclusivity, education, and influence.
Through interviews with practitioners, we categorized our audience into three levels of engagement. Among these, Passive Companions, who visit museums primarily for social reasons, emerged as typical Low Engagement Visitors. Research indicates that many visitors passively experience museums, making them susceptible to museum fatigue. To understand behaviors at different stages, we conducted comparative interviews between low and high-engagement visitors.
We discovered that Passive Companions often experience “boredom,” characterized by disinterest, low energy, emotional detachment, and passive participation.Notably, we found that companions can influence others’ ongoing interest in museum information and services during the middle stages of a visit.
In summary, companions in museums often feel bored, which diminishes their motivation for deeper experiences and impacts both themselves and those around them. This boredom also impedes the dissemination of cultural and experiential diversity that museums aim to promote.
