Table 2 Museum management and operations: comparison of features between mainstream art museums and the Kunstmuseum Gehrke-Remund. © 2008 Kunstmuseum Gehrke-Remund

1

Private collector is rarely in his museum

No, at least one of the founders and often both are in the museum, they actively work and speak to the visitors

2

Guided tours are outsourced to outsiders or part-time personnel with relative knowledge of the exhibition

No, guided tours are given exclusively by one of the two founders who have in-depth knowledge of the artist

3

Museums rely heavily on personnel for security

No, control is done by video cameras

4

Visitors are processed from box office to coat room to the exhibition rooms

No, every single step of the visitor is planned and designed from the visitor’s point of view using the method of Experience Map

5

Museums shops usually have pricey items

No, museum shop prices range from $1 to a maximum $45, the average price is $9 so most visitors find some souvenirs to bring back home, shop items are displayed and explained as if they were pieces of art

6

Toilets are functional

Beyond functional, toilets are decorated as if they were part of the exhibition with photos, frames, antique carpets and furniture. so that visitors take photos of the toilets

7

Coffee shop, museum shop and toilets are often messy

No, every single aspect and place in the museum is considered to be an intrinsic part of the experience, processes are designed so that visitors think they are the first to visit the coffee shop, museum shop and toilets. For example trash and hand towel bins are always emptied

8

Personnel at the box office check ID cards for reduced tickets to students, seniors

No, personnel at the box office are instructed not to check IDs but to believe what the visitors say at face value

9

Museums have rigid business hours

No, if some visitors arrive up to 30 min early than opening hours, the Kunstmuseum lets them in, it also allows them to stay longer than the closing

10

Employees adapt processes over time

No, the museum designed strict SOPs for each step of the visitors’ experience, employees must follow the SOPs to the extent of using exactly the same language and words to give a short introduction to the exhibition or to answer questions

11

Exhibition advertising budget is spent for ads in magazines, billboards, radio

No, advertising is done exclusively in Google

12

Visitors see the exhibition only once

Returning visitors to the permanent exhibition represent over 50% of all visitors; the exhibition is so complete, deep and rich in content, continuously enriched with additional exhibits beyond the paintings, that visitors return two to four times

13

Cameras are for control and security

In addition, cameras are used to observe visitors behaviour, flow of visitors through the rooms and make improvements