Assessment Criteria •
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1604575 – TATE MODERN [80%] Clear and logical I have marked your work and would ask that you read through my structure making comments carefully;; I would like to highlight a number of key points. reference to the key First, thank you for following the assessment guidelines to closely! auditing sections and As a result, this report clearly addresses most (not all!) of the thematics outlined in the requirements of the assessment. You provide a helpful overview assessment brief of the visitor experience at the Tate – although some additional Appropriate use and reference to sector practice could have been included at this point. application of tools and You then proceed to consider the factors influencing the galleries techniques used to sector – some good points raised here but again be explicit in terms measure and improve of what it means for the experience. This then enables you to reflect service quality on this in the respective VAQAS sections. TripAdvisor section Ability to convey results included with clear consideration to positive and negative comments. of fieldwork accurately The only evident bit missing at the beginning is the Webqual analysis and succinctly using linked to the website. appropriate formats Evidence of engagement The VAQAS audit itself has been completed and the required graph with the academic elements have been included and presented consistently literature and use of throughout. Supporting discussion is clear and concise and I like the accurate referencing way that you have attempted to highlight best practice in boxes. This works but I would have really liked to have seen additional reference conventions to the literature throughout to really highlight the areas of best practice and how this links to the experience. You have also included the respective satisfaction scores for each section. For the higher grade, you could have compared scores between different areas in the gallery (as advised during the module) to really highlight potential inconsistencies in the quality of experience. Your final recommendations section could have been structured around the VAQAS sections more clearly but nonetheless the key themes are bought together. Again here, some additional reference to the literature could have been included to reinforce the experiential elements you have seen. You have worked through the requirements of the brief and delivered accordingly. You demonstrate an appreciation of underpinning service principles but going forward the higher grade is linked to critically so really engage with the literature. Overall though a very good piece of work – well done!
UNIVERSITY OF CHICHESTER MODULE ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK STUDENT NO:
1604575
ACADEMIC ADVISOR:
COLIN WHITAKER
PROGRAMME:
Bachelor of Arts (Hons)
YEAR OF ENTRY TO PROGRAMME:
16
MODULE NAME:
PURPLE GOLDFISH AND THE ART OF SERVICE EXPERIENCE
MODULE CODE:
BML207
MODULE TUTOR:
ANDREW CLEGG
ASSESSMENT TITLE: group fieldwork report/exercise 2450 word equivalent (002) Tutor's Comments - with reference to assessment criteria See attached file for feedback. Areas for improvement:
Provisional mark: 80 Completed by: ANDREW CLEGG
Date Completed: 24/05/2018
Second Marker Comments : 1604575 – TATE MODERN This is a competently delivered report that closely followed the assessment’s instructions and as a consequence met virtually all the required elements. One of the two areas where I feel there was room for improvement is in the contextualisation of the museum’s experience with sector best practice and on how this reflects on the overall visitor experience. Although you attempt to provide this information with the use of textboxes, which is a great idea, I felt that this format was implemented in a rather restrictive way that really didn’t allow to expand on how they are implemented and how this could be reflected on Tate’s visitor experience. The other area for improvement is the Webqual analysis, which is missing in spite of being specifically requested by the instructions. MARK AGREED – Jorge Gutic 23/05/18 Second Marker's Name: JORGE GUTIC
Staff Declaration: We agree that work to be marked anonymously will be treated as such until marking and internal moderation has been completed.
TATE MODERN VAQAS AUDIT
Student no: 1604575
Table of Contents 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………….……………….3
3. Conclusion……………………………………………………………….……………...……....28
1.1. Tate Modern…………………………………………………………….…………….3
3.1. Areas of Best Practice………………………………….……………….……...30
Facilities……………………………………………………………………………...3
3.2. Recommendations for Enhancement…………….……….…………....31
Level 0………………………………………………………………………………...4
Level 1…………………………………………………………………………………5 Level 2………………………………………………………………………………...6 Level 3………………………………………………………………………………...6 Level 4………………………………………………………………………………...7 Levels 5 to 10……………………………………………………………………...7 Admission……………………………………………………………...…………...8 Main Market………………………………………………………….…………...8 Awards………………………………………………………………….…………….8 Challenges……………………………………………………………….………….9 Key Drivers……………………………………………………………….…………9 1.2. Customer Feedback………………………………………………………..…….10 Negative customer Feedback………………………………………..…..11 Positive Customer Feedback……………………..………………...…...12
2. Auditing Results…………………………………………………………………………………13 Section 1. Pre-Arrival……….………………………………………………….………13 Section 2. Arrival…………………………………………………………….……….….15 Section 3. Attraction………………………………………………………..…….……18 Section 4. Toilets…………………………………………….……………………....….22 Section 5. Catering…………………………………..………………………...……….24 Section 6. Retail……………………………………………….………………….………26
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1. INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to present the results of an VAQAS audit done about an attraction on service quality and customer experience. Tate Modern is the attraction of choice for this assignment as it is an outstanding landmark in London and has features which can successfully be analysed using the VAQAS auditing guidelines.
1.1. Tate Modern Tate Modern is an international modern and contemporary art gallery located in London. Built in 2000, the gallery was designed to accommodate two million visitors a year. However, due to the unforeseen popularity, it now struggles to welcome the six million visitors, making it the most popular modern and contemporary art gallery in the world (Prodger, 2016; Tate, 2017).
Facilities Originally the gallery was converted from a Bankside power station and in 2016 the Switch House extension was added. The new extension provides the gallery 60% more display space as well as other facilities and a viewing terrace (Prodger, 2016). The Tate Modern art gallery has extensive facilities, designed to
Figure 1. Tate Modern map.
accommodate its visitors’ needs. Alongside the free exhibition areas, the gallery complex includes several cafÊs, bars, a restaurant, retail shops, a viewing platform and the Turbine Hall (Figure 1). 3
Level 0 On level 0 of the gallery, visitors are welcomed by the Turbine Hall which, over the years, has hosted various large-scale sculptural projects and artwork (Figure 2). At the moment, the hall is filled with lines of swing weaves designed by the Danish artists’ collective SUPERFLEX, allowing people to experience how collective energy resists gravity (Figure 3). On the same level of the Blavatnik Building, free display of The Tanks is available (Figure 4).
Figure 3. Turbine Hall swings.
Figure 2. Level 0 map.
Figure 4. The Tanks in the Blavatnik Building.
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Level 1 Starr Cinema, which hosts live performances, seminars, talks and discussions is located on level 1 of the Boiler House (Figure 5). The cinema has cutting-edge sound technology and is aimed to enable visitors to experience works from ’different cinematic and artisitic practice’ (Figure 6) (Tate, 2018a). What is more, in order to enhance their experience via new technology, visitors are invited to connect with artists at the interactive Digital Drawing Bar (Figure 7).
Figure 6. Starr Cinema.
Figure 5. Level 1 map. Figure 7. Digital Drawing Bar.
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Level 2
Level 3
Level 2 of the gallery holds various special and free exhibitions (Figure
Level 3 of Tate Modern also holds various special exhibitions and free
8). Art from 1900 to now is displayed in the Boiler House and art from
displays (Figure 9). The Boiler House space is mainly used for special
1960 to now is displayed in the Blavatnik Building.
exhibitions and free displays for art from 1960 to now are available in the Blavatnik Building.
Figure 8. Level 2 map.
Figure 9. Level 3 map.
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Level 4
Levels 5 to 10
Level 4 contains of numerous free exhibitions (Figure 10). The
Levels 5 to 10 do not hold any exhibitions or displays, instead various
themes for the Boiler House building displays include ‘Materials and
cafés, bars, a restaurant, shops and a viewing platform (Figure 11) are
Objects’, ‘Recent Acquisitions/Magic Realism’ and ‘Media Networks’.
located on those levels to entertain the visitors.
‘Living Cities’ gallery and Artist Rooms are located in the Blavatnik Building.
Figure 11. View from the Viewing Platform.
Figure 10. Level 4 map.
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Main Market According to Department of Digital, Culture Media & Sport, during 2016/2017 season the Tate
Admission Similarly to the other UK’s national galleries and museums, the admission to Tate Modern is free. Free daily tours in the gallery are also available. However, tickets do need to be purchased for special exhibitions.
Group had 8.45 million visitors, of whom 3.96 million were overseas visitors (Strategic review of DCMS-sponsored museums, 2017). Under 16
year olds accounted for 7% of total visits (Strategic review of DCMS-sponsored museums, 2017) and according to the data from a Tate website survey, 32% of visitors to Tate galleries
Awards Tate Modern has received numerous awards from the Leading Culture Destinations Awards (Lcsawards.com, 2018) and has also been shortlisted for the world’s biggest and most prestigious museum prize called the Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2017 (Art Fund, 2018).
are under 30 years old and predominately visit to carry out research on art and artists (Tate, 2014).
Overseas visitors 47%
Domestic visitors
53% 8
Challenges
Key Drivers
There has been a rapid increase in museums since the 1960, making it
Nowadays, with the growing number of opportunities and choices, people’s
harder and harder for the organisations to compete for visitors (Moore,
expectations have become higher and they are not afraid to be critical
2005). What is more, other leisure pursuits from the heritage sector are
(Wallace, 2017). Thus, a successful visitor experience is about meeting and
also appealing for visitors and thus provide even more competition for art
exceeding customers’ needs.
galleries. This could be one of the reasons why the visitor numbers in the
Quality of the visitor experience and satisfaction is dependent on numerous
museum and art gallery sector have been in decline of 1% in 2015 and
factors, such as cultural relevance, entertainment, educational aspect of the
2016 (VisitEngland, 2017).
visit, and whether the visitors’ individual needs were met (Understanding the
Being different and standing out is a challenge for many art museums and
Future: Museums and 21st Century Life, 2005; Pine II and Gilmore, 1998).
galleries. Branding is a key element for this as it represents the most obvi-
The visit also needs to be engaging, which can be enhanced with the effective
ous mean of distinguishing an organisation from other mass commodity
use of technology and audio-visuals. Service design, aesthetics and the am-
destinations (Fyall and Leask, 2006) . Also, creating contemporary, immer-
bience of the attraction are equally important in providing customers good
sive and personalised experiences is very important for all attractions in
value for money (Museums + Heritage Advisor, 2018b) (Pine II and Gilmore,
order to pull in visitors and stay competitive.
1998).
Another challenge art galleries face is finding funding (Moore, 2005; Lind-
Easy and reliable access to the attraction is another key driver for a good visi-
qvist, 2012). Some of them, such as Tate Modern, are supported by the
tor experience. According to VisitEngland (2017), museums and art galleries
government if the attraction is in any way remarkable and
thus important for tourism. However, relying on govern-
are destinations most often accessed via public transportation. What is more, access via public transportation is much
ment for funding can also be very unstable as there can be
higher in London than anywhere else in the UK
unexpected allocation reductions, tax reforms etc. Income
(VisitEngland, 2017).
from public sector, fundraising and donations are few other ways organisations can generate income.
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1.2. Customer Feedback In order to understand customers experiences and attitudes, the existing visitors’ feedback on TripAdvisor was analysed (Figure 12). Fifty of the most recent comments by visitors who rated Tate Modern as ‘Terrible’ and ‘Excellent’ were reviewed. However, it must be noted that out of the 8,571 reviews 2.495 were rated ‘Excellent’ and only 242 were ‘Terrible. The average score Tate Modern gets from TripAdvisor is 4, which is viewed as ‘Very Good’ (TripAdvisor.co.uk, 2018).
Figure 12. Customer ratings for Tate Modern on TripAdvisor website.
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Negative Customer Feedback The negative comments most often included remarks about the overcrowded state of the gallery, poor flow of people and disappointing exhibits (See Figure 13). The visitors also often commented on the soullessness of the building and depressing feeling it left them with. However, on the contrary, some of the commenters found the building ‘beautiful’, ‘nice’ and ‘impressive’. Some people expressed their discontent with the exhibition by saying that the art itself was boring and too abstract for their taste, several compared the exhibits to the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ tale (See Figure 14) or to ‘primary school art’. 22% of the visitors wrote that the view over London from the viewing platform was the only positive thing about the experience (See Figure 15) (TripAdvisor.co.uk, 2018).
Figure 14. TripAdvisor comment.
Figure 13. TripAdvisor comment. Figure 15. TripAdvisor comment.
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Positive Customer Feedback The visitors rating Tate Modern ‘Excellent’ most often commented on the magnificent view the viewing platform provides over London. ‘Architecturally beautiful’, ‘intelligent themes’, ‘wonderfully created’ are only some of the positive phrases commenters used to describe the gallery. The comments indicated that people were very satisfied with the variety of exhibitions, even if some of them could be considered ‘depressing’ (See Figure 16 and Figure 17). The swings in the Turbine Hall were an installation that visitors often identified as ‘fun’ and ‘uplifting’. An aspect of the gallery that many deeply appreciated was the free access for all (See Figure 18)
(TripAdvisor.co.uk, 2018).
Figure 16. TripAdvisor comment.
Figure 17. TripAdvisor comment.
Figure 18. TripAdvisor comment.
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2. AUDITING RESULTS Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) is a quality assessment tool that evaluates all areas which have an impact on the quality of the visitor experience. All aspects of the customer journey from pre-arrival to them leaving the attraction are thoroughly analysed and assessed with this method. Gap analysis has been used to understand customers’ expectations versus perceptions of the attraction. This is demonstrated in the form of a graph in each section of the audit.
Section 1. Pre-Arrival
Section score
76%
Figure 19. Pre-Arrival auditing results.
Pallud and Straub (2014) suggest that the aim of the museum website is to attract more visitors and arise their interest for visiting the attraction. The Pre-Arrival section of the audit was awarded 76% and website is one of the two categories that scored the highest (Figure 19). The
Tate website is easy to navigate, the information is up to date and tastefully illustrated with pictures (Figure 20). What is more, an in-depth description has been provided of how to get to the location of the gallery (See Figure21) and all the accessibility issues have been addressed (See Figure 22), which is important as many travel to the location via public transportation (VisitEngland, 2017).
Figure 20. Tate Modern website (Tate, 2018b).
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The Tate recorded information lines were fairly clear and audible, the directions given were easy to follow. However, one of the issues encountered was that once all the options for different enquiries were listed, there was not a way to go over them again. One would need to end the call and phone the line again. In regards to the live calls, the person answering was able to provide sufficient and detailed information about enquiries, advice on accessibility was available. For
example, when asking about access with a wheelchair, all easily accessible entrances were listed and directions provided. Although the brochures at Tate Modern were very visual, professional-looking Figure 21. Directions to Tate Modern on the website (Tate, 2018b).
and easily accessible, it was missing some integral information, such as transport and contact details, which dropped the score for this section to a 3 (Figure 23).
Figure 22. Accessibility issues addressed on the website (Tate, 2018b).
Figure 23. Brochures in Tate Modern.
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Section score
Section 2. Arrival
76%
The best practices upon arrival to the gallery included cleanliness and visitor information (Figure 24). The entrance was overall clean and tidy, however, the carpeted ramp on the ground floor was stained in some areas. Hand-held information was available upon arrival and the brochures were easily accessible from a stand in the entrance (Figure 25), quality of the print was to a high standard.
Figure 25. Map stand in Tate Modern.
Figure 24. Arrival auditing results.
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The initial signage was another area which scored highly, 4.1 out of 5, mostly as it fit nicely with the contemporary theme of the art museum. There was some signage leading to the gallery building from various points in the city (Figure 26), plenty of signage and posters were outside the building demonstrating the free admission (Figure 27), current exhibitions (Figure 28) and the location of the entrance (Figure 29). Figure 26. Signage leading to Tate Modern.
Figure 28. Current exhibitions signage.
Figure 27. Free entry signage.
Figure 29. Tate Modern main entrance.
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The staff had neat appearance and were easily identifiable. They were familiar with special offers, however, no additional help was offered to visitors. What is more, when asking staff for advice using minimal English and speaking with a strong accent, the enquiry was missed too easily. The biggest gap area for the Arrival section was Layout and Maintenance of the Pedestrian Entrance. This section scored 3.1 as no seating was provided upon arrival to the gallery and no signs about the provision of dogs was shown. However, on the website it is written that service dogs are allowed. Although, the counters at the entrance were of suitable height (Figure 30). Tate Modern does not have a private car park but sufficient directions on where to park have been provided on the website. Disabled drop off posts had Figure 30. Counters at the entrance.
clearly been marked at the outside venue.
Best Industry Practice (Staff): In order to make visitors feel more comfortable in approaching them, the bilingual staff members at Museum of Modern Art wear pins that indicate which languages they speak (Mir, 2014).
Figure 31. Tate Modern initial grounds.
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Section score
Section 3. Attraction
74%
Tate Modern got a result of 74% for the Attraction section of the VAQAS audit (Figure 32). The range of content was scored highest in this section as it was of very good quality, the content of the exhibitions was authentic and appropriate within the contemporary and modern art context of the attraction, making it culturally relevant to the visitors. At the moment, for example, artwork by world-renown Picasso is on display (Figure 33) as well as exhibitions by experimental artist Joan Jonas and textile artist Anni Albers.
Figure 33. Pablo Picasso ‘Nude in a Black Armchair’ 1932 (Tate, 2018c)
Figure 32. Attraction auditing results.
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The Quality of Presentation category received 3.6 out of 5. The best practice in this category was static information which was easy to locate and read (Figure 34 and Figure 35). As regards to digital technology, the gallery did not use much of it. A few different touch screens were provided for the visitors to use (Figure 36), however, these did not have any operating instructions. Use of technology is, however, very important as it can enhance the visitor experience via providing educational information as well as engage people.
Figure 35. Static information in Tate Modern.
Figure 36. Interactive touch screen in Tate Modern.
Best Industry Practice (Digital Technology): Cleveland Museum of Art has introduced a cutting-edge piece of technology called The Collection Wall. It is a ‘40foot interactive, multitouch, MicroTile wall, which displays in real time all works of art from the permanent collection currently on view in the galleries’ (Museums + Heritage Advisor, 2018a). Figure 34. Events schedule in Tate Modern.
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Figure 36. Use of symbols in signage.
Figure 37. Use of symbols in signage.
Figure 38. Meeting point.
The signage at Tate Modern was of uniform design, symbols had been used
Best Industry Practice (Signage):
to aid understanding and multiple meeting points had been provided
All Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico signage
throughout the gallery (Figure 37, Figure 38 and Figure 39). However, no
is bilingual as residents in the area speak
signs or exhibition labels had been translated into foreign languages, which
both Spanish and English (Mapr.org,
makes it difficult for the 47% of people who are foreign visitors to find their
2018).
way around the venue.
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A gap area in the Attraction section was Quality of Interpretation, which scored an average of 3.3. Some requirements that had been fulfilled had been done so to a very good standard, however, some integral requirements of the audit were missing. In hand-held info orientation plan was provided and easy to understand but it did not have a contents page nor a key on the plans (Figure 39). Both portable and fixed recordings had a clear sound and had foreign language option available but no sound loops were installed (Figure 40).
Figure 20. Orientation plan in the brochure.
Figure 39. A fixed recording in Tate Modern.
Figure 40. A fixed recording in Tate Modern.
Best Industry Practice (Visitor Flow):
Another gap area was Layout, which scored only 2.9 out of 5 due to the lack of highlight of the
National Gallery Singapore uses a
wheelchair friendly routes and the poorly managed visitor flow. Wahab and Zuhardi (2013) high-
crowd simulation model to map out
light the importance of a system which allows visitors to walk through the exhibition smoothly
visitor routes to minimise overall
and comfortably. Some of the exhibitions in Tate Modern were hard to follow as there was no
waiting time thus enhancing the visitor
logical or directed flow through the exhibition rooms. People would oftentimes need to wait for
experience (Accenture.com, 2018).
others to pass to enter a room as the visitor flow was arbitrary and the entrances small.
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Section score
Section 4. Toilets
59%
Unclean and untidy toilets are often sources of complaint when it comes to attraction facilities (Jennings and Nickerson, 2006). Public facilities, such as the restroom, need to be well-kept and emphasise a nice environment. On the contrary, the toilet facilities in Tate Modern were the lowest scoring section within the whole audit, being awarded only 59% (Figure 41).
Unisex baby changing areas had been provided and were maintained to a good standard in all of the toilet areas (Figure 42), all necessary fixtures were present in disabled toilets (Figure 43). A good practice Tate Modern had embedded was the use of unisex toilets which is helpful for those individuals who choose not to identify with gender labels. Figure 42. Baby changing area.
Figure 43. Baby changing area.
Figure 41. Toilets auditing results.
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There were some inconsistencies with the toilet facilities in Tate Modern. For example, the cubicles in the exhibition area toilets were much smaller than the ones in the restaurant area (Figure 44 and Figure 45). What is more, the restaurant area restroom facilities were much cleaner and better kept than the ones in the exhibition area. The hand washing area there was unclean, wet and the mirrors were full of stains (Figure 46). All in all, Maintenance and Cleanliness was the lowest scoring category within the whole audit, with a gap of 2.8.
Figure 44. Restaurant toilet cubicle.
Figure 45. Exhibition area toilet cubicle.
Figure 46. Hand washing facilities in the exhibition area toilets.
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Section score
Section 5. Catering
80%
Restaurants and cafĂŠs with good quality food and service can actively compliment and pull more visitors to the museum. The design and atmosphere of the facilities are equally as important (Brown, 2013). In all areas of the Tate Modern catering facilities, in both the cafĂŠ and the restaurant, the scores were quite consistent, varying from 3.4 to 4.2 (Figure 47). The facilities were maintained to a good standard and the staff was knowledgeable in answering questions about the menu as well as about the museum (Figure 48 and Figure 49). An exceptional feature that the restaurant provided to its customers was the opportunity to have an excellent view over London whilst dining.
Figure 48. Tate Modern restaurant.
Figure 47. Restaurant auditing results.
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What could be improved is the consideration for food allergies and dietary needs. Neither the cafĂŠ nor the restaurant had marked allergens in the menus or brought out which meals are vegan and vegetarian (Figure 50). Brown (2013) says that consumer concerns, such as nut allergies, and expected special interests, such as gluten -free and lactose-free, need to be taken into consideration when putting together the menu.
Figure 49. Tate Modern cafĂŠ.
Figure 50. Restaurant menu.
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Section score
Section 6. Retail
90%
In an interview Callum Lumsden (2015) talks about gift shops: ‘visitors
want to take home a reminder of their own personal experience of the attraction’ (UK Trade & Investment, 2015). Tate Modern did the best in the Retailing section of the audit, scoring 90% out of a 100. Scores were evenly high in all categories within the Retail section of the audit (Figure 51).
Figure 52. Retail shop in Tate Modern.
Figure 53. Retail shop in Tate Modern.
The gallery had multiple retail shops on various floors of the building, all of which were maintained and presented to a high standard, thus achieving a score of 4.8 for that category. As for the layout, all the retail shops within the building were laid out well, making it easy to find one’s way around as well as easily access with a wheelchair, the presentation of products was outstanding (Figure 52 and Figure 53). Figure 51. Retail auditing results.
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The range of products available in Tate Modern retail shops catered to people looking for something very specialist as well as to children, there was a good selection of books in the shops (Figure 54). Innovative technology had been used in the store in the form of a touch screen which allowed the visitors to order custom prints of their favourite art (Figure 55).
‘’
We want to have the best modern art bookshop of any museum in the world. - Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota (Lumsden Design, 2018)
,,
The success of the Tate Modern’s retail shops is evident in the awards the gallery has received for those facilities. The designer, Callum Lumsden, has also worked on other world-leading art galleries’ and museums’ retail shops, such as the Museum of Modern Art’s and British Museum’s (UK Trade & Investment, 2015).
Best Industry Practice (Range of Products): The retail shops in Tate Modern caters to individuals from all age groups and areas of
interest by having a vide range of products ranging from themed key chains to art books.
Figure 54. Book display in a retail shop in Tate Modern.
Figure 55. Touch screen to order custom prints.
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3. CONCLUSION McLean (1994) claims that ‘museums are essentially object-based and their
very existence depends on the possession of a collection’. In the past, art museums did have the tendency to focus more on the exhibitions that were on showing rather than on customer service and experience (Dragicevic and Letunic, 2014; Weiss, 2016). Over the last generation the focus has shifted more towards customer experience and public engagement, however, balance between the two is imperative (Weiss, 2016). The final score sheet concluded that Tate Modern received an overall 76% for the VAQAS audit (Figure 57). The score is consistent with the visitor ratings on TripAdvisor, where the attraction was rated 4 stars out of 5. Retail and catering are the two areas in which Tate Modern did an excellent job in enhancing the customer experience. The attraction and pre-arrival/
arrival sections were good but could use some improvements. The toilets, however, were too unclean to receive more than an overall 59% for the section. Figure 56. Tate Modern art museum.
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Figure 57. Final VAQAS score sheet.
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3.1. Areas of Best Practice Area of best
Description
practice Maintenance
The buildings and exhibitions of the gallery had been well maintained. There was no trash on the ground, the exhibition rooms were clean and art-focused. Ambience of the attraction and aesthetics are key drivers in customer experience and Tate Modern did indeed a good job in achieving a pleasant and an interesting atmosphere.
Signage
The style and font of the text used for signage, hand-held information and everything else, fit really well with the theme of the gallery. It helped to bind together different areas of the gallery and exhibitions,
Figure 38. Information point in the museum.
Figure 39. Building map in Tate Modern.
Figure 40. Exhibition area in Tate Modern.
Figure 41. An interactive exhibition in Tate Modern.
make it more coherent. Exhibitions
Tate Modern had a sufficient amount of interactive exhibitions for an art gallery. The visitor could focus on the displayed art but also be occasionally intrigued by various interactive activities. This satisfies the need for engagement and entertainment which define quality customer experiences.
Retail
The retail stores at Tate Modern have been designed by an industry leader and this is evident in the high VAQAS score the gallery received. All aspects of the shops had been well though through and the products displayed were of excellent quality and variety.
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3.2. Recommendations for Enhancement Area of
Description
Recommendations
Considering that a considerable part of the event visitors are foreigners, not much had been done to enhance their experience. Four languages were provided for the fixed audio recordings, however, the signage and hand-held information was all in only one language—English.
To reach a range of audiences, implementing multilingual signage and brochures should be made a priority. Tate Modern could, for example, develop a mobile app that allows visitors to translate signage and provide exhibition descriptions in multiple languages.
Brochures
Although, the map brochure provided by the gallery was good, it did not cover information in good enough detail.
Tate Modern could have separate brochures about the gallery, artists and events, which would enable the visitor to easily acquire the information they are looking for.
Technology
Tate Modern has missed an opportunity to use technology in their advantage to offer customers a more interactive and immersive experience.
Tate Modern has the scope to use more technology and innovation in their advantage. Interactive touch screens could be implemented around the gallery to be used by the visitors to explore thematic connections between the exhibits and to support surrounding items on display.
Cleveland Museum of Art example on page 19.
Visitor flow
The visitor flow in the museum is not good: people need to wait in queues to enter an exhibition room and orienteering in exhibition areas is confusing and difficult.
The visitor flow in the art museum could be improved by implementing a crowd simulation model which would allow to overview the most visited routes in the gallery. Reassessing the exhibition layout according to the visitor route data could enable overall improvements in visitor flow.
National Gallery Singapore example on page 21.
Toilets
Some of the toilet facilities were not well-kept and clean.
A rota could be implemented into all the toilets so that the facilities could be kept clean and be regularly inspected by members of staff.
Restaurant and cafĂŠ
The restaurant and cafĂŠ did not include allergens and different dietary needs in the menus.
Providing a clear overview of the allergens in the menus could enhance the customer experience as an increasing number of people have different dietary needs (Brown, 2013). Having sufficient information available could also possibly attract more clients.
practice Language diversity
Industry practice example Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico example on page 20.
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