Grant Writing

Project goals, desired impacts, and evaluation plans...
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Evaluation

Exhibit evaluation brings your visitors’ voice to the table...
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Audience Research

Research helps you understand your audience...
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Speaking

I have a lot of fun “preaching the gospel” of visitor studies...
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Capacity Building

There are times when outside help is necessary ...
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VisitorStudies.com is a consulting firm committed to helping experience designers and informal learning organizations do what they do best: excite and inspire people about the world around them.  Visitor studies and evaluation provide actionable data about your audience so your exhibits and programs are relevant, engaging and impactful.  When exhibits and programs connect with visitors, they ignite a spark!

more testimonials

Together we can create
experiences that spark
excitement and curiosity
in your visitors!  

Wendy Meluch, MA

Founder

Wendy Meluch, Principal of Visitor Studies Services (VSS), uses visitor studies and evaluation to help informal educational institutions bring the visitor experience into sharp focus.  Working in collaboration with project staff to understand their goals and unique situation, Meluch designs research to bring the visitor perspective to all phases of exhibit, program and facility development.  Her work provides decision makers with valid, actionable data.

A lifetime of experience as a visitor and planning for them informs Meluch’s visitor studies and evaluation practice. Her background includes personal and professional involvement with educational travel, visual and performing arts, scientific research, non-profit development, and museum management. Before establishing VisitorStudies.com, Meluch served as the Director of La Sonrisa Institute (educational travel into Mexico), and the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco.  Learn More

Erin Gong, MS

Statistics Maven

Erin Gong is museum evaluator with particular expertise in research design, quantitative data analysis, and comparative statistics. Erin's evaluation experience ranges from audience needs assessments and logic modeling to formative/summative evaluations of programs and exhibitions. She holds a Master’s of Science in Information from the University of Michigan School of Information, with an emphasis in program evaluation and community informatics. 

Deborah Morgan, MA

Research Assistant Extraordinaire

Deborah has a 15-year track record of success in investigative field work, informal education, outreach, and research in a variety of academic and public venues. Her research focuses on the collaborative curatorial process of museums and the living cultures represented in their collections to develop exhibitions and public programming. Experience behind the scenes and on the floor at all types of museums makes Deborah a valuable contributor... Learn More

Elsa Bailey, Ph.D.

Research Collaborator

Elsa Bailey’s career path of more than 25 years has encompassed a rich and varied set of experiences, including positions as an educator in formal and informal settings, professional work in the fine arts, and evaluating educational projects and programs across these settings. She holds a BA in Psychology, from the City University of New York; an MS in Education, from Bank Street College...  Learn More

all projects

Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, Alaska
Army Corps of Engineers, Bay Model, Sausalito, California
Arizona State Museum, Tucson, Arizona
Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai’i *
Boise Museum of Art, Boise, Idaho
Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming
California Association of Museums *
California State Parks *
Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland, California*
Cody Firearms Museum, Cody, Wyoming
Computer History Museum, Mt. View, California
East Bay Regional Parks, Oakland, California
Exploratorium, San Francisco, California *
Explorit Science Center, Davis, California *
Gail Anderson & Associates

Mountain Parks Foundation (Big Basin State Park), Felton, California
NASA AMES at Moffett Field, Mt. View, California
National Park Service, Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center, Richmond, California
New Children’s Museum, San Diego, California
Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Zoo, Oakland, California *
Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, Palo Alto, California*
Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska *
San Francisco Zoo, San Francisco, California *
San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, California *
The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California *
University of Hawai’i Manoa, Oahu, Hawai’i
Visitor Dialogue *
Western Museums Association *