Guided Tours and Their Participants: Observations from German Museums

The following article discusses the behavior and activity of groups participating in guided tours in the light of more extensive dissertation research discussing participation and inclusion in museums in the context of Finnish and German museums. This article aims to describe the actual activities in museums during guided tours and demonstrate the need to develop the tours in terms of participation and inclusion. The data consists of observation notes from forty-three guided tours in three German art and cultural history museums and one art gallery. Guided tours are probably the most offered and used activity in these facilities. The tours and tour guides are in the front line between the institutions and audiences. Therefore, they deserve further research, development, and attention from those designing exhibitions, especially when considered the most participative museum offerings. The framing research understands real participation containing the tools provided by service design. Service design can be used in the participatory development of museum offerings with its human-centered approaches, research, and design tools.