UX Research
The Art Gallery of Ontario is one of Canada's most prominent art gallery. The gallery showcases a variety of art from foreign artist as well as a huge collection of native Canadian art. While there is a membership program, the AGO fails to effectively communicate its benefits and values during the user experience. To address this, the research study was conducted in the form of multiple interview sessions as well as an ethnography study. The research was conducted in 2 phases. The interview was conducted first and then the ethnography was conducted.
It was decided that 5 participants would be interviewed to understand their motivations, pain points and concerns with regards to the memberships. A screener was put out to select participants based on the criteria that they were attendees of museums, art galleries etc;
Here is the link for the screener: Click here for screener
7 people were recruited; 2 being backup participants in case of withdrawals. These participants were scheduled for conducting the interview. The interview was semi structured. Before conducting the interviews, a discussion guide was created with listen fors to ensure that we stay on topic and receive valuables responses from the participants. The listen fors aimed to ask questions with relation to general thought and experiences during museum/ art gallery visits along with perception of membership benefits.
Here is the link for the discussion guide: Click here for discussion guide
Building on interview findings, it was decided that the researcher would attend the AGO and conduct ethnography. Ethnography was conducted to analyse behaviour, interactions and experience of a visitor.
An observation guide was created in order to provide some structure to the ethnography. This observation guide outlined specific watch fors during several stages of the visit. Observations were made to uncover pain points across; Ticket and membership purchase process, On site gallery experience and finally the exit and post visit interactions.
Here is the link for the observation guide: Click here for observation guide
1) Lack of Membership Awareness- Most participants were unaware about the benefits they would gain from a membership.
2) Frustrations with Auto Renewal- They were often not sure if the renewal feature was available and were frustrated when memberships renew without their knowledge.
3) Preference to Status based/ group based memberships and tickets- The participants often felt that they would prefer to go to the exhibitions with a group or family so wanted the tickets to be the same.
1) Confusing membership purchase process- There was no clear explanation on-site on how to purchase a membership, neither was there a way to upgrade your single ticket.
2) Confusing membership tiers- The online membership pages provided very confusing nomanclature for the membership tiers and did not provide any indicators to upgrade the tickets. There are tiers called admirer and admirer+, these tiers are difficult to differentiate and is often brought up to the staff at the AGO.
2) Minimal membership promotion in the gallery- There was very limited signages in the AGO about the membership and its benefits.
3) Lack of staff interaction- The front desk rarely initiated conversation about the memberships and its benefits
4) Missed opportunities for post visit engagements- There were limited reminders about the membership apart from small brochures at the ext. There were no encouragement for visitors to sign up for a membership.
These were some of the key findings that was observed throughout the research. While there were multiple positive aspects; this research aims to focus on the pain points and challenges as these are the findings that can be improved upon the most. By addressing these findings the AGO can create a more seamless and effective experience for the user while purchasing a membership. This might also help provide the users more opportunities and chances to purchase or upgrade their membership.
1) Clear communication of Membership benefits- Provide comparison charts and highlight membership benefits on the website.
2) Reminders for auto renewal- Make sure the auto renewal button is transparent and reminders are provided through mail or sms before the membership auto renews. Aim to achieve maximum transparency with the users.
3) Include status based memberships- Provide more perks for families and group based purchases. This will motivate more people to come as it is a group activity.
1) Create understandable labels for membership tiers and allow users to compare each membership so they can easily comprehend the features that each tier offer.
2) Better communication of membership benefits (Staff and Workshops) - Ensure that staff is promoting the the membership and its benefits throughout the AGO. Morover, the membership exclusive workshops can be promoted on site.
3) Provide more reminders and promotions through mail and SMS along with other messages that urge users to interact with the AGO more.
This research helped uncover key barriers preventing visitors from interacting with the membership programs that are offered by the AGO. The interviews revealed the issues that the participants face with respect to unclear understanding of benefits, auto renewal frustrations and preferences to groups and status based memberships. The ethnography reinforced the hypotheses made after the interviews. It also revealed new pain points with respect to the minimal staff promotion, lack of membership promotions/ signages etc; This research helped identify these key issues an provide possible solutions for it.
