ABSTRACT
The pursuit of optimum interpretation and display techniques is a very current preoccupation. In the authors' investigation of a number of galleries, the two that offered the best visitor experience were both ones that engaged the audience with both silent and spectacular objects alike: the Music room in the Horniman Museum and the Tomb-chapel of Nebamun gallery in the British Museum. These galleries attracted and held visitors for comparatively long periods of time, and generated enthusiasm about the experience. By employing the new tools that the authors had developed to use in analysing and evaluating museum exhibitions and exhibits, they were able to understand some of the factors that lay behind their success. These tools offer a new understanding of some of the major exhibition features that influence visitor satisfaction. The broad design strategy and visual effect of an exhibition, as opposed to the individual physical characteristics of things, can encourage satisfying and lasting experiences for visitors.
