Imperial War Museums
Identifying digital opportunities for improving the visitor experience
Culture
3 months
Overview
Activities
- Product management consulting & strategy
- Programme management & stakeholder alignment
- Landscape audit and benchmarking
- Persona development
- Customer journey mapping
- Vision definition
- Objectives & KPI frameworks
- Roadmap definition, prioritisation & feasibility
- Experience definition & rapid prototyping
- Board, management & stakeholder presentations
- Developing in-house CX capabilities
Introduction
Imperial War Museums operates five world-leading cultural sites across the UK, dedicated to sharing the stories of conflict and its impact on people’s lives. The institution wanted to enhance visitor experiences, both physical and digital, while also finding ways to increase commercial sustainability.
We worked closely with them to map the entire visitor journey, creating a clear experience blueprint that identified common and unique needs across all sites. Our insights were roadshowed across teams, helping embed a customer-centric design philosophy institution-wide.
Challenges
The museum did not have a holistic understanding of how visitors felt about the overall experience. They needed to create more seamless and engaging interactions across their multiple sites. Additionally, due to pressure on central funding, the museum had to explore new ways to become more commercially self-sufficient, without compromising on the quality of the visitor experience.
Approach
Built a holistic understanding of the visitor experience
We brought together existing insight, stakeholder perspectives and sector research to understand the needs of IWM’s visitors and the wider context in which the organisation operated. By developing shared visitor personas, we gave teams a clearer, evidence-based view of the audiences they served across all five sites.
Mapped the end-to-end journey across physical and digital touch-points
We mapped the complete visitor journey to reveal common needs, pain points and opportunities before, during and after a visit. This created a shared experience blueprint that connected physical and digital interactions while recognising the distinct character and requirements of each museum.
Understanding the customer experience was paramount to this project
Turned insight into a prioritised transformation roadmap
Working with stakeholders across IWM, we translated the findings into a clear experience vision, measurable objectives and a prioritised roadmap. We rapidly prototyped key opportunities to demonstrate their potential and assess feasibility, balancing improvements to the visitor experience with IWM’s long-term commercial sustainability.
Summary
The new Imperial War Museums experience enhances both physical and digital visitor journeys, creating a seamless and impactful interaction across all five sites. By mapping the entire visitor experience and embedding a customer-centric design philosophy, we have increased engagement while supporting the institution’s commercial sustainability goals.
Project impact
“Pattrn were able to bring together all areas of our institution and deeply empathise with our business and unique visitor needs. Their work provides a renewed and exciting platform on which we can enhance our visitor experience as well as our internal capabilities.”
