We surveyed visitors in North America with a focus on audio experiences during in-person visits. The main goal of this survey is to inform the work we are doing: create best-in-class solutions to deliver audio experiences. We are also sharing our results here. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Which device or platform do you prefer for accessing audioguides?

Visitors now overwhelmingly prefer to use their device instead of traditional players. Interestingly, we do see a trend towards app "fatigue", where some users prefer not to have to install a new app. This is in line with a broader market trend where more and more one-off applications are available directly in the browser.

When visiting museums that provide audioguide players, do you usually use them?

About 20% of visitors are relatively frequent users of traditional audio guides, but a large majority of visitors does not use them.

When visiting museums that provide audioguides on your mobile, do you usually use them?

Audio guides delivered on mobile have significantly higher adoption than traditional solutions. However a challenge remains to ensure visitors are aware the solution is available.

What are your reasons for not or rarely using audio guides on dedicated players?

Dislike for the hardware and lack of convenience is the main barrier to usage of traditional audio guides.

What are your reasons for not or rarely using audio guides on your mobile device?

Awareness and ease of access are the main challenges with mobile audio guide solutions.

Do you prefer fully guided museum tours or to explore independently without a guided path?

Visitors largely prefer to explore independently. This is an encouragement to make audio guide solutions flexible and more focused on relevance of the content than on building integrated tours.

What length do you prefer for audio content related to a specific exhibit?

There is more appetite for shorter content. Younger respondents favor the 1-2 minute range while older adults prefer 2-3 minutes and are less put of by longer content.

Are you interested in additional audio content to continue exploring certain topics more in-depth?

However shorter content does not mean no depth. A majority of visitors wish they had access to more when they want to.

Which of the following ways do you prefer to get information about the exhibits?

Audio guides and exhibit annotations remain very popular, while visitors are open to video and other digital content. (note every respondent was allowed to pick multiple choices)

How do you prefer to accessing the audio content related to an exhibit ?

QR codes benefit from large familiarity among visitors, and seem to be the most practical solution to provide content related to specific exhibits.