A Content Audit in Cultures
The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian faced a challenge engaging visitors after several initial exhibitions gave way to rotating galleries. As the first anthropological museum on the Mall, NMAI was a total unknown to casual visitors.
What’s the first step to building understanding?
The client
Industry: Cultural Preservation
Size: 900,000 visitors per year
Reach: Global
The request
Our largest visitor segment is white women over 50 who come in as foot traffic from the Mall.
They’re looking for Sitting Bull’s moccasins. But when they see our exhibits about treaties or water rights, they feel guilty and can’t engage with us.
How can we update our communications in all channels, including displays, to connect them with Indigenous populations today?
The real issue
The original exhibitions that occupied core galleries at NMAI introduced commonalities in world view across the Indigenous populations of the Americas.
Without describing how anthropological and historical museums differ, NMAI had relied on those exhibits to provide structure for walk-in visitors.
The decision to replace part of the original exhibits left the casual visitor experience without its backbone, creating the need for stronger wayfinding content and clearer visitor communications
The work
Stakeholder Interviews
Interviewed leaders of all public-facing departments for communications recommendations drawn from visitor:
Questions
Misunderstandings
Assumptions
Communications Audit
Reviewed all public-facing brochures, materials, platforms, wayfinding, and displays to identify opportunities to better support goals through:
Subject matter (content)
Tone
Structure
