Freedom Trail Research: Visitor Wayfinding and Site Interactions

If you live in Boston or have walked on Boston streets, you probably have seen visitors congregating outside the historical buildings waiting to get their pictures taken (and blocking your way). You probably have also been stopped by tourists looking for directions to the sites or the Freedom Trail itself (even when they are already on the Trail marked by a line of bricks).

The Freedom Trail Foundation recognized that this was a problem and approached the Digital Team at the City of Boston for help. They hoped a better navigational experience would encourage visitors to step in and interact with the historical sites more.

My role in this project as a user experience researcher is to understand and communicate to stakeholders:

• How visitors are currently navigating

• Where and why visitors are getting confused on the trail

• Why visitors are not interacting with the sites.

BACKGROUND ON FREEDOM TRAIL AND VISITOR BEHAVIORS

The Freedom Trail consists of 16 sites from Boston Common to Charlestown and is marked by a line of red bricks extending 2.5 miles on the ground. Each of the site along the Freedom Trail is independently run by National Park Service, City of Boston, or non-profit organizations working on preserving the historical sites. Most the sites are free to visit, and some charge an admission fee to help with the site’s maintenance and restoration efforts. Visitors can choose to walk the trail with a tour guide, join a bus tour, or do a self-guided tour. Even though the official start of the trail is in Boston Common, visitors can start the trail anywhere traveling in any direction they want. The most frequently visited section of the trail is in the Downtown Boston area (Boston Common to Faneuil Hall), followed by the North End sections (Paul Revere House to Copp’s Hill Burying Ground), and the Charlestown locations (Bunker Hill and USS Constitution).

According to a marketing research study from the Freedom Trail Foundation, there is a huge seeing-entering gap for the visitors. For sites such as the Massachusetts State House, up to 90% of the visitors studied said they saw the site but only 10% actually went in. This gap is also something I attempted to explain with my research.

RESEARCH PLAN

Because visitors have varying degrees of preparedness and travel in their own unique ways, I realized redesigning a public experience like this required understanding of those who are least capable at navigating, namely, visitors with the least amount of knowledge about the trail and where they need to go. Designing for this type of visitors can ensure the maximum number of visitors served (because visitors with more knowledge and resources can also benefit). Special considerations were also given to accessibility in my research because people with accessibility needs are also among the least capable.

Additionally, my research had to be in-context because the memory of good and bad experiences would be the freshest when visitors are still on the trail. (In fact, I found later in my research that people tend to have a more favorable review of their Freedom Trail experience when they are nearing the end as opposed to in the middle.) This meant I had to understand how visitors are currently navigating and what types of questions they have when they are on the Trail.

Site selection

I selected 7 of the 16 sites to observe and conduct interviews based on their location, foot traffic, transportation in the area, and whether the sites are well-known. I also went to the same sites at different times on different days with different weather. The goal was to get a diverse mix of people to interview.

Getting response from people

I served as an information source for the visitors as I am conducting interviews, making their interaction with me more enjoyable (and therefore are more willing to discuss their experience with me). Additionally, I made sure to introduce myself in this way:

“Hi! My name is Jiaorui and I work for the City of Boston. We are trying to improve the visitor experience on the Freedom Trail. Did you find your way around ok?”

I estimated that only about 2-3% of the people I’ve said this opener to were unwilling to share anything at all. This opener worked really well because people could understand that I was trying to be helpful and make THEIR experiences better. Additionally, regardless of whether they answer “yes” or “no” to my question, I can easily follow up with more questions - points of confusion, how they are navigating, how they prepared for their trip, if they know which sites they’d like to see, and information they wished were available about the trail.

Besides asking questions to the visitors directly, I also interviewed people who interact with visitors on a daily basis. This included tour guides, park rangers, visitor center staff, local businesses, volunteers, gift shop staff, and Downtown Boston Ambassadors. I was able to understand what types of questions were asked of them and what visitors are commonly confused about (surprise - they get asked the same questions over and over again).

Accessibility

Due to the time constraints, I was able to only interview the Disabilities Commissioner from the City of Boston. In my initial research I found that most of the Freedom Trail sites are accessible, but none of the official (Freedom Trail Foundation, National Park Service) or non-official (bus tour companies) guides distributed have that information. The accessible routes to get to the sites were also not marked on the maps available to public. Even though I did not have a chance to interview visitors with accessible needs, I made sure to walk the accessible routes to see if changes can be made signage wise.

HOW VISITORS ARE CURRENTLY NAVIGATING

Mixed navigation strategies

Visitors travel on the Freedom Trail with varying levels of preparedness, but most commonly combine 2-3 different types of navigational strategies. The strategies include:

1. Physical brick trail

2. Following a tour group or a crowd

3. Physical map (Freedom Trail Foundation map, National Park Service map, Old Town Trolley Tours map)

4. GPS (Google maps)

5. Guidebook (Official Freedom Trail Guide, Complete Guide)

6. Mobile app (National Parks Service, Granary Burying Ground app, unofficial apps)

7. Printed travel tips from travel websites

8. Existing wayfinding signs (very hard to see and only a small number of visitors know they exist)

WHY VISITORS ARE CONFUSED ON THE TRAIL

Even though visitors have a wide variety of navigation strategies to choose from, different navigational strategies have varying degrees of success at different parts of the trail. Which strategies visitors choose are based on how much knowledge they had prior to starting the trail.

Lack of knowledge on the Freedom Trail

Visitors who show up without extensive planning often have misunderstandings about what Freedom Trail even is about. A lot of them think of Freedom Trail as one thing on their list they get to check off, so when they find out there are 16 sites across 2.5 miles, they get really confused and don’t know what to do.

Unawareness of the physical brick trail

An estimated 20% of visitors are unaware that they need to follow the red brick path on the ground. They may be using other navigation strategies (e.g. GPS) and tend to get lost in downtown. However, visitors do find out about the brick trail when they interact with visitor center staff, site staff, park rangers, volunteers, or passers-by. As a result, wayfinding experience is much better for visitors towards the later parts of the trail, particularly in Charlestown.

Lack of site signage

Most of the signs at or near the sites are not very apparent upon first glance. As a result, visitors often don’t know what they should be looking for. Visitors usually have to hold a picture of the site from a map and compare it against their surroundings to find out the exact location of the sites.

Confusing locations

Even when visitors know about the physical brick trail and are using multiple navigation strategies, they can still get confused in a number of locations. The confusion is often a result of trail that is unclearly marked (splits or disappears), a result of environmental noise (busy intersection, hustling pedestrians), or a result of a lack of signage.

WHY VISITORS ARE NOT INTERACTING WITH THE SITES

Unexpected requirements

Hours, cost, and special requirements for entering the sites often come as unexpected surprises to the visitors.  As a result, visitors are often surprised to see that some sites cost admission or are upset when they show up at the USS Constitution to find it closed on Mondays. Because visitors are often not prepared, they end up not interacting with the sites.

Lack of site information

Visitors who have interest in history expressed that they wanted more information about the site so they can make an informed decision about entering, particularly for the sites that costs admission. However, information about what the site is and why it is important are inadequate for most sites. As a result, visitors are more likely to use secondary information such as the appearance and architecture of the buildings and other tour groups present to help them decide if they want to enter.

Lack of accessibility information

In addition to the general findings above, accessibility issues have also been found to contribute to low site exposure and interaction levels. Currently, all the 16 sites along the Freedom Trail are accessible except Old Corner Bookstore, Old State House, Copp’s Hill, and USS Constitution due to their age and historical preservation. However, visitors are not aware of the accessible routes along the trail because

1. The route is not marked on most commonly used maps (Freedom Trail Foundation maps, National Park Service maps, and Old Town Trolley Tours maps).

2. There are no current signs near each site to let visitor know where the accessible entrances are.

As a result, visitors arrive at the main entrances by following the trail like everyone else, only to be frustrated when they can’t get into the sites.

COMMUNICATING INSIGHTS

I presented the research findings and how they supported the design decisions to over 30 stakeholders. I also wrote two reports to communicate targeted findings and suggestions for different site stakeholders.

In the Site Interaction Report, I provided recommendations on managing visitor expectations and site-specific signage information needs to attract visitors to interact with the sites. In the Signage Placement Report, I provided specific suggestions for where to place the wayfinding, informational, and accessibility signs.

NEXT STEPS

The design team has come up with initial designs for the wayfinding signs. Once those designs are fully developed, the design team will begin gathering feedback from stakeholders and the general public. Those designs will be refined and finalized then move to fabrication. The City will then be installing the new signage in the recommended locations, and improving the experience for Boston’s visitors in the near future.