EXHIBIT ACCESSIBILITY AND THE SENIOR VISITOR: ASSESSMENT SESSION FINDINGS FOR SECRETS OF AGING

By Christine Reich and Minda Borun

How do you create a science center exhibition that appeals to a senior audience? Do the needs and interests of seniors differ from those of the general audience? Can you truly create an exhibition that works for everyone? These questions were asked when the Museum of Science, Boston first started to develop a new traveling exhibition called Secrets of Aging, which targeted seniors as a potential audience, along with the traditional science center audience- families and school groups.

Traditionally, seniors do not attend science centers in large numbers and little is known about the needs of the senior visitor in a science center environment. To learn more, assessment sessions were held at the Museum of Science to study the ways existing exhibitions worked for the senior audience. The findings from these assessment sessions were incorporated into the design of the Secrets of Aging exhibition, and were re-examined during both formative and summative evaluation.

How the Study Was Conducted

Three groups of seniors visited exhibitions at the Museum of Science and evaluated the design and content of these permanent installations. During this time, the groups were asked to complete a rating sheet for each exhibition they visited. Following the completion of their visit to the exhibitions, the visitors shared their thoughts with evaluators in a group discussion.

Three separate groups of seniors participated in the assessment sessions: the Kit Clark Senior Center; the University of Massachusetts-Boston Manning Certificate Program Alumni; and Elderhostel. The participants were generally between 65 and 85 years old.

The Assessment Session Formats

The Kit Clark Senior Center and University of Massachusetts assessment sessions were held on a weekend when few other visitors were present. The total amount of time spent in the exhibitions was approximately two hours. Each group consisted of 10 seniors.

The Elderhostel assessment session took place over the course of a week. Seniors were briefed on the goals of the project on Tuesday, and were allowed to explore the museum during their free time from Tuesday through Thursday, completing rating sheets on the three test exhibitions. The group discussion was held on Thursday afternoon. Approximately 30 seniors were present during the group discussion. However, the highest number of rating sheets collected from this group for any one exhibition was 13.

Distinguishing Characteristics of Each Group

The characteristics of each group of seniors varied. This should be taken into consideration when reviewing the results.

• The Kit Clark Senior Center group was the most diverse in terms of ability: some of the seniors were quite active, while others were more limited in their ability to navigate within their environment.
• The University of Massachusetts-Boston seniors were individuals over the age of 65 who had recently received a graduate certificate in gerontology. These seniors were more aware of senior issues and the biological changes associated with age. In addition, this group tended to be more affluent and had fewer mobility limitations than the Kit Clark senior center group.
• The Elderhostel group came to the museum to take part in the Elderhostel program and had the opportunity to explore a wider variety of museum programs and exhibitions. In addition, the Elderhostel seniors appeared to have fewer limitations in mobility and were more likely to be involved in cultural activities, such as visiting museums, than the Kit Clark and the University of Massachusetts-Boston seniors.

The Exhibitions

Each group was asked to review up to three separate exhibitions: The Observatory: Seeing the Unseen, Human Body Discovery Space, and Insects. These three exhibitions varied in design, content, and pedagogical styles.

• The Observatory: Seeing the Unseen: This is a highly interactive exhibition, with multiple hands-on components. The exhibition focuses on engaging visitors in the scientific process of observing.
• Human Body Discovery Space: This exhibition is also highly interactive, with multiple hands-on components. The content of the exhibition is similar to the content of the Secrets of Aging exhibition- the biology of human beings. This is also one of the few areas of the museum where interpreters are always present to assist visitors in their scientific exploration.
• Insects: This exhibition tends to be more object-based and less interactive than the other exhibitions reviewed by the seniors. The use of natural light makes the design of this space unique for the Museum of Science.

Summary of Findings

During the assessment sessions, a few key issues surfaced as areas for consideration: seating, print size, exhibition organization and layout, lighting, height of labels off the ground, exhibition content, and instructions for the interactives. In many cases, these issues reappeared during both formative and summative evaluation of the Secrets of Aging exhibition, thus confirming the initial findings.

The results below discuss only the contributions of senior visitors. We do not have comparable data for visitors of different age groups. It is not known whether these findings are unique to visitors over the age of 65.

Seating

The design issue that the seniors most often reported as a concern was the need for additional seating in the exhibitions. During the group discussions, the need for additional seating was particularly stressed. Some seniors remembered and remarked on the noticeable absence of seating in past exhibitions at the Museum of Science. Seniors also cited "Not enough seating" as a cause for discomfort in the exhibitions on 18 percent of the rating sheets.

Seniors reported the need for three different types of seating in the museum: stools at the interactives for operating these components, benches in the exhibitions for resting, and seating between exhibitions for resting in the halls. With regard to the seating at the individual exhibit components, the seniors said that they preferred stools rather than upholstered chairs.

Due to these findings, numerous areas for resting were incorporated into the design of Secrets of Aging. When the completed exhibition was tested with a senior audience, senior groups no longer mentioned "lack of seating" as a cause for discomfort in the exhibition. When interviewed, the seniors commended the museum for the inclusion of ample seating in the exhibition, citing the presence of stools and "comfy" resting chairs as one of their favorite features.

Print Size

Many seniors reported difficulties during the assessment sessions with the print size used on the labels in the three test exhibitions. Seniors reported print size as a problem on 23 percent of the rating sheets. Of these, 77 percent stated that the print size was too small.

During formative evaluation of Secrets of Aging exhibit prototypes, the use of small font continued to serve as a barrier for access for the senior visitor. Increasing the font size on one of the prototype labels (from 24 point to 60 point) decreased the percentage of seniors who reported that the interactive instructions were "confusing." Since the work performed during the formative evaluation helped to identify areas where larger text was needed, the performance of the final exhibition was improved; seniors rarely cited print size as a problem during summative evaluation.

Organization of Exhibitions

The seniors of both University of Massachusetts and the Kit Clark Senior Center repeatedly expressed the need for a clearer organizational structure in the three test exhibitions. While the suggested solutions for improving the organization varied, seniors were uncomfortable with random access and wanted structure. Examples of some suggested improvements include more advance organizers, "headlining" the different areas of the exhibition, a clearer visitor path, and a map showing the placement of each component in the exhibition.

During summative evaluation of Secrets of Aging, the lack of a clear organizational structure and the use of a random access design scheme continued to be a source of frustration. The seniors did report, however, that the use of "street signs" identifying the major areas of the exhibition was a helpful addition.

In contrast to the Kit Clark and University of Massachusetts seniors, the Elderhostel participants appeared comfortable with the use of random access in the three test exhibitions and in Secrets of Aging. This result demonstrates that, when testing exhibits with a senior audience, findings can differ depending upon the type of population that is interviewed since the needs and ability levels of the senior audience are varied.

Exhibition Layout

Seniors reported during the assessment sessions that the three test exhibitions appeared too cluttered (11 percent of the rating sheets). Responses such as "[this exhibition] was too busy with too many things" suggest that the density per section of individual components, along with the organization of these components, plays a role in the comfort of the senior visitor in the science center environment. In contrast to these initial results, seniors reported that there was adequate space between the components of the Secrets of Aging exhibition.

Spacing components too far apart can also have a negative impact on the senior visitor, particularly for seniors with severe limitations in mobility. When testing the completed Secrets of Aging exhibition with seniors from a local assisted living facility, the seniors commended the exhibition for limiting the amount of space between the interactive components. These seniors felt the relative closeness of the interactives assisted their ability to move from one interactive station (and stool) to another with limited effort.

Lighting

Lighting appeared to play an important role in the seniors' comfort and in their ability to read the labels within the test exhibitions. In The Observatory: Seeing the Unseen, the most common complaint was that the lighting was too low. In Insects, the natural sunlight caused problems with glare and reflection. Seniors also reported lighting to be an issue for labeling on 18 percent of the rating sheets for the three test exhibitions.

Due to this result, a special effort was made to provide extra lighting for all of the Secrets of Aging exhibition labels, especially those using smaller fonts. This appeared to have a positive effect, as seniors did not report significant difficulty with the lighting in the exhibition.

Height of the Activities and Labels

Results of both the group discussions and rating sheets show that senior visitors experienced some difficulties with the height of the components and labels in the three test exhibitions. The most frequent complaint was that the labels or hands-on activities were too low to the ground. The senior visitors assumed that these interactives were designed low to the ground to work well for children, but the needs of wheelchair users were also taken into consideration when designing the height of some of these activities and labels.

In the final design and set-up of the Secrets of Aging exhibition, extra care was taken to ensure that the labels and the interactives were placed at a height that was comfortable for seniors. This effort had an impact as the senior visitor did not mention this complaint during the summative evaluation. Instead, seniors remarked that the placement of the labels, slightly below eye level, worked well for people who wear bifocals. This placement also appeared to work well for visitors in wheelchairs.

Interactive Exhibits

Most seniors enjoyed working with interactive exhibits during the front-end testing, and often cited particular interactives as their favorite part of the exhibitions. They did experience difficulties, however, operating some of the interactive components. Seniors reported difficulties operating the interactives on 35 percent of the rating sheets. Almost all of the seniors attributed this difficulty to poor labeling.

During formative evaluation of Secrets of Aging, seniors were more likely than younger visitors to report that the instructions for the exhibit prototypes were "confusing" or "unclear." For some prototypes, cultural differences across generations (such as the familiarity with a given expression, or technology) appeared to play a role. For others, increasing the legibility of the labels seemed to decrease the level of confusion. Despite the identification of this problem during formative evaluation, seniors continued to report during summative evaluation that they had difficulty understanding the instructions for the interactives. Further work is needed to determine ways to improve the clarity of interactive instructions when creating exhibits for a senior audience.

Exhibition Content

The content of the three test exhibitions played a significant role in the seniors' enjoyment. During the front-end study, most senior visitors reported that the content was a main reason for favoring a particular exhibition. During group discussions, the senior visitors overwhelmingly cited the Human Body Discovery Space as their favorite of the three exhibitions they visited. The most often cited reason for favoring this exhibition was that it is about "them." They enjoyed learning more about their bodies and their health. The seniors of the University of Massachusetts and Elderhostel groups expressed the wish that more of the exhibition would deal with issues important to seniors, such as hearing aids, blood pressure, and alcoholism.

During formative and summative evaluation of Secrets of Aging, content continued to play an important role in the senior visitors' enjoyment of the exhibition. Seniors reported that the Secrets of Aging exhibition was not just for them, but was also about them. The seniors reacted negatively when the content of an interactive did not resonate with aging as they had experienced it. In contrast, seniors enjoyed the interactives that they found useful (such as exercises for seniors that can be done in the home) and those that closely matched their individual ideas about aging.

Conclusions

As part of the summative evaluation, seniors were invited to visit Secrets of Aging and asked to complete a rating sheet and participate in a group discussion, using a format that was similar to the one that had been used on the three test exhibitions during front-end testing. The results of this summative evaluation showed that Secrets of Aging was better able to meet the needs of a senior audience than the three test exhibitions. This success can be largely attributed to the inclusion of the senior audience in all stages of exhibit evaluation. By conducting a front-end study, it was easier to identify and change the potential problem areas during the formative and remedial evaluation. We therefore addressed these issues throughout the exhibition development process and were able to create a more comfortable environment for the senior visitor in the final exhibition.

Major funding for Secrets of Aging was provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Secrets of Aging was produced by the Museum of Science, Boston in conjunction with the Massachusetts General Hospital Geriatric Medicine Unit and in affiliation with the American Psychological Association. The exhibition was developed by the Museum of Science, Boston for the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative, a group of science centers that share resources to create exhibits that travel to each institution. The collaborative's other members are the California Science Center; COSI- Columbus; Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History; The Franklin Institute Science Museum; and The Science Museum of Minnesota.

Further Resources

Fiske, Arthur D., and Wendy A. Rogers. Handbook of Human Factors and the Older Adult. San Diego: Academic Press, 1997.

Majewski, Janice. Part of Your General Public is Disabled. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1987.

Wolf, Lisa F., and J.K. Smith. "What Makes Museum Labels Legible". Curator 36, no. 2 (1993): 95-110.

Call-out box on Aging: About Secrets of Aging
Secrets of Aging, a 6,500 sq. ft. traveling exhibition developed by the Museum of Science, Boston in collaboration with the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative, explores what the latest scientific research reveals about a process that effects us all. Designed for visitors of all ages and abilities, Secrets of Aging addresses four main topics:

Body
What physical changes occur as we age, and what can we do to influence those changes?

Mind
How does aging affect that very complex organ, the brain?

Society
How do the people and ideas that surround us affect our experience of aging?

Longevity
Will scientists find ways to extend the human life span?

Perhaps the biggest secret of aging is that there are more questions than answers about living a longer and better life. Scientists have just begun exploring life in our later years. There is much to learn in the years to come.

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