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Visitors may believe they freely choose what to see in a museum, but new research shows that design decisions, often invisible to the visitor, play a decisive role in shaping attention, movement and discovery.

A study published in Management Science finds that physical layout, gallery sequencing and digital guide design systematically influence which artworks visitors engage with, how long they stay and what they ultimately skip.

The study shows that proximity matters: Visitors are far less likely to move between artworks that are physically distant, located on different floors or harder to access through multimedia guides. Even small layout or interface changes can significantly alter visitor pathways and engagement patterns.

At the same time, the research challenges common assumptions about crowding. In some settings, visitors experiencing more congestion viewed more artworks, including lesser-known pieces, suggesting that crowds do not always suppress exploration, and can—under certain conditions—increase engagement.

The research, "Designing Layouts for Sequential Experiences: Application to Cultural Institutions," was led by Ali Aouad of MIT Sloan School of Management, Abhishek Deshmane of Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, and Victor Martinez-de-Albéniz of IESE, in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Using anonymized multimedia guide data from more than 1.5 million museum visits, the researchers developed a predictive model to track how visitors move from one artwork to the next. The model correctly predicts visitor transitions 63% of the time—a strong result in a setting where visitors are free to roam and make unstructured choices.

"Our results show that layout is not just a backdrop for the visitor experience," said Aouad. "It actively shapes attention, pacing, and discovery, often in ways visitors are not consciously aware of."

The study also highlights the growing influence of digital tools. Multimedia guide design affected what visitors selected, with artworks requiring more scrolling or switching between tour modes receiving significantly less engagement. These interface frictions quietly steered attention away from certain works, independent of their artistic significance.

To test the practical implications, the researchers simulated alternative layouts and guide designs. Their results suggest that reassigning artworks or adjusting digital interfaces, without changing the collection itself, could meaningfully increase overall engagement and encourage visitors to explore beyond marquee works.

While the research focuses on a major art museum, the authors note that the findings extend to other cultural and experiential environments where visitors navigate sequential choices, including exhibitions, heritage sites and public attractions.

The study provides a data-driven framework for understanding how design choices influence human behavior—offering museum professionals new tools to evaluate layout and digital decisions without prescribing curatorial content.

Publication details

Ali Aouad et al, Designing Layouts for Sequential Experiences: Application to Cultural Institutions, Management Science (2025). DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.02024

Citation: Museum design quietly determines what visitors see and what they miss (2026, January 14) retrieved 14 January 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-01-museum-quietly-visitors.html

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