Feb.24 – Second set of interviews & map drawing

Mattress Factory project | Exploratory Research Part 2 Interview Notes
February 24, 2008: total of ten (two groups of two, two groups of three) interviewed
Carrie Chan . Natalie Ebenreuter . Miso Kim (Renna and Leanne couldn’t make it)

GROUP ONE________________________________________
Two males, one female
One local, two from Detroit; all grew up in Pittsburgh
INTERVIEW

How they heard about MF

• thought MF was the Andy Warhol Museum… “it was a positive accident!”

How would they describe MF to someone new

• unexpected, not obvious

Emotions going through museum:

• didn’t know what to expect
• a lot of “discovering” for each of the exhibits
• “you’re a part of the exhibit”
• fun, a lot of suspense (esp with the dark rooms)
• felt bad in dark room b/c people were stacked up behind
• excited to see what was next

How would you describe the exhibits if they were people?

• fun, playful, not menacing

Would you want to know anything more about the art to make your experience more enjoyable?

• would like to know what the artist was thinking, how the piece came to be

Other

• didn’t see all the placards for the exhibits

MAP DRAWING

• info at desk was useful
• didn’t read the sign on 2nd floor… they were impatient and didn’t think the instructions were as important as they ended up being
• heard someone scream when they were waiting to go into the dark room
• stumbled through the dark floor the first time, then went through a second time when their eyes were adjusted (two totally different experiences were had)
• booties were hard to put on
• mirror room was bad for one of them – they could see their bald spot everywhere
• no problems finding the bathroom – although they thought the bathrooms were also artwork; they were all different and some were situated in different places than others – they looked at all of them before going

GROUP TWO________________________________________
Mom (F) and son (M)
Both first time to MF
From Pittsburgh

INTERVIEW

How they heard about MF

• (F) known about it for years – word of mouth – keeps reading about it everywhere
• (M) brochures from hotel where he works

How would they describe MF to someone new

• (F) installation art, more modern
• (M) unique, you’re not used to something like that

Emotions going through museum:

• (F) stuff in gift shop is nice!
• (F) might join on a yearly basis (already has a yearly membership for Phipps, zoo, Carnegie museums)
  • went to Cali to visit family – they bought a yearly membership at the Crocker museum in Sacramento which as a partnership with MF – it expires in March so they figured they’d visit the MF before it expires

What could’ve MF done to make your experience better?

• need to make sure that people read the directions on the second floor

Would you want to know anything more about the art to make your experience more enjoyable?

• don’t feel the need to know about ongoing conversation
• they stopped to ask the artist (who was working on her installation) some questions on the third floor
• are interested to see the process of artist’s work (F usually reads background in newspaper, but notes that it would be interesting to know the information after you’ve seen the exhibits)

Other

• didn’t go back to dark room for full 15 minutes – people were waiting in line
• were questioning the doors in the basement (they had time to look at them while waiting for the elevator)
• really liked the building itself
• found the fire escape, but didn’t really consider it a dead end

MAP DRAWING

• picked up all the art information cards
• wasn’t really sure where parking was
• really interested in the sign at the entrance
• front desk information was good
• took every brochure at elevator, and will read them later
• read all the information in the elevators (but was slightly confused as to which buildings had what)
• text on sign on 2nd floor was small – contributed to why they didn’t read it… but they also didn’t know that they were instructions
• screaming from the dark room deterred them from entering it

GROUP THREE_____________________________________
two females
one local (F1), one visitor from Philly (F2)

INTERVIEW

How they heard about MF:

• F1 knew about it over the years (word of mouth)
• looking for something different to do

How would they describe MF to someone new:

• modern art in cool industrial space
• interactive
• haunted house! (stumbling around, it’s dark)

What could’ve MF done to make your experience better?

• no problems finding way around
• didn’t read the brochures, would’ve liked more information on the dark floor

How would you describe the exhibits if they were people?

• unsure – could approach pieces, but not really warm and inviting

Would you want to know anything more about the art to make your experience more enjoyable?

• interested in process
• not interested in ongoing conversation

MAP DRAWING

• mapquest said to park near Sampsonia – got confused
• front desk info was very good
• didn’t know person on 3rd floor was an artist – thought they were just doing repairs
• read sign on 2nd floor inadequately
  • looked at the map but didn’t read the text
  • thought the text would be self explanatory stuff
  • didn’t sit for 15 minutes (wouldn’t have sat for 15 minutes even if they knew that was what they were supposed to do)

  the local female would bring guests back to MF

GROUP FOUR_____________________________________
two females (F1 and F2) and a male
1st time visitors, they are from Cali

INTERVIEW

How they heard about MF:

• googled stuff to do in Pittsburgh

How would they describe MF to someone new:

• unique and different experiences
• don’t respond to traditional museums but really liked this
• F1: being IN the art made it great – wasn’t just about hanging art on the wall

Emotions going through museum:

• F2: didn’t maximize time on 2nd floor – felt uncomfortable in the dark
• F: didn’t read sign on 2nd floor

What could’ve MF done to make your experience better?

• needed track lights to see where you were going
• more signage
• need someone to tell them that they’ll need to be sitting there for 15 minutes

How would you describe the exhibits if they were people?

• pieces were a bit stand-off ish
• red and purple rooms were more inviting

Would you want to know anything more about the art to make your experience more enjoyable?

• F: artist perspective vs. visitor perspective would be interesting

MAP DRAWING

• info at front desk was good
• took a long time to get around on 2nd floor
• ran into other people – M thought it was fun, F and F2 were scared
• wasn’t sure if there were stairs in the dark room
• some people used cell phones to light up the space
• didn’t notice the signs on the 3rd floor
• 2nd mirror room was harsh – didn’t want to touch things
• not enough time to read stuff in elevator