Royal Armouries – Summative Evaluation

Research Problem

The Royal Armouries were seeking to increase the number and diversity of their audience through a temporary exhibition programme.  They commissioned BVA BDRC to run some research to understand how effective a strategy this would be, and how they could best deliver the programme.

Approach

To solve this problem we conducted a hybrid qual/quant programme of research.  Face-to-face exit interviews were conducted amongst visitors to the Royal Armouries whilst their Warrior Treasures exhibition was running.  This first stage sought to understand the profile and experience of visitors to Warrior Treasures.

The second stage involved three focus groups which used pre-tasks and projective techniques to understand the exhibition experience that generated the most memorable moments.

Both stages were reported in the context of previous audience work and presented in a report that provided recommendations for future exhibition developments.

Outcomes

The research provided the Royal Armouries with clear outcomes on how they should approach their upcoming exhibition strategy.  In particular, it highlighted the benefits an exhibition programme might bring them, as well as the favoured exhibitions by their target audiences.  Our recommendations ranged from marketing, to curation, to on-site navigation.  The findings were very well received by the director-led audience.

For more information please contact Jon Young.