When designing an exhibit, there is one question that always
arises no matter the content. Do you want to have a space for your visitors to
contribute their voice?

Talk-back experiences in museums are not a new concept. They
are a great way to collect visitors’ thoughts, opinions, memories, etc. on a
variety of topics. They are also a great way for the site to collect data on
their audience. On a deeper level, they are a way for a museum/exhibit to
include the visitor in the conversation, a symbol that shows how much a site
values their visitors’ thoughts. The exhibit shifts from a passive experience
to a participatory experience.

Explore below, three ways to create a talk-back experience
and the potential pros and cons within each concept. Depending on the content
or the type of visitors, some cons may actually be pros and some pros may be
cons. It’s up to the intended experience to determine what might be the best
option in each situation.

The Classic Post-It Wall

A space is created for visitors to respond to a prompt by writing or drawing on a supplied piece of paper that will be displayed somewhere in the exhibit for other visitors to see. These experience tend to focus on the big picture or the larger exhibit theme.

Taylor Studios designed and fabricated exhibits for the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department for Anderson Visitor Center at Coyote Creek Parkway in Morgan Hill, California including this station asking visitors for feedback!
PROS

Open ended – Visitors are free to write or draw what they please and can make as many changes as they’d like or take their response down if they so choose

Visual – Visitors can see and read through other responses

Co-curating – Visitors are given the opportunity to contribute to the content of the exhibit

Individual – Visitors have more control and are able to share their own thoughts

Low-tech – Simple, approachable exhibit that visitors will be familiar with

CONS

Maintenance – Will need to be cleared out for new responses and edited for inappropriate responses

Materials – May require a lot of materials, e.g. pencils/markers and paper, which can create a mess and become wasteful

Time – Visitors may need more time to answer prompt

Space – Experience needs space to display responses, store materials, and provide a surface to write/draw on

The Vote

A simple and quick way to have visitors vote on a concept with pre-chosen options. Visitors vote with a token of sorts and create group data. These tend to focus on smaller more detailed exhibit themes and can often pose a more controversial question.

Quick sketch of one idea for a voting interactive
PROS

Impact – Visitors are quickly able to see how their vote impacts the overall results

Time –Requires little time of the visitor to participate and also little time to absorb the information being displayed

Guided – Staff and/or exhibit designers have more control over the question being asked and the answers being offered, no monitoring responses

Low–tech – Simple and cost-effect interactive that doesn’t take up too much space

CONS

Less-individualized – Visitors individual voice becomes a part of a group voice

Not open-ended – Visitors do not have the option to expand on an idea and/or answer in an unexpected way

Free-floating tokens – Voting tokens may need to be replaced if taken or lost

Inflexible – More difficult to change-out the interactive and update with a new question and new options/answers

The Digital
Experience

A digital talk-back experience can be developed into a variety of experiences. It may simply be a digital version of the “post-it wall” or it may be an interactive that records video, captures e-mail addresses, takes photos, etc.
This digital experience is at Purina Farm Visitor Center.
PROS

Easy to Share – Visitors and site can share responses on various platforms, such as their website and social media

Record Results – Staff have the opportunity to record results in an organized manner for future use to better understand their visitor experience

Private – Offers more privacy for visitor when responding, e.g. offering private booths for video recording, typing an answer doesn’t capture individual’s handwriting, often one user at a time

Endless Tailored Options – Can be anything that can be dreamed up and developed! Can be extremely specific to the site or to the type of visitors and can be changed and updated frequently

CONS

Price – Digital interactives are often more expensive depending on how unique and detailed they become

Maintenance – The dreaded “out of order sign” becomes a very likely future possibility

Permanent – Visitors are not able to take back their response very easily

High-tech – Tech can be alienating to some visitors, a more sophisticated platform may inhibit spontaneous responses