Supporting Museum, Heritage & Cultural organisations with impactful research
Need to understand your audiences and visitors, but have difficulty prioritising the time?
Identify effective, impactful evaluation tools to support your delivery that move the dial.
Build alignment, make connections and inspire better ways to reach your strategic goals.
Focus on what matters, and run studies that make a difference.
At Research That Matters, we make research easy, useful and genuinely rewarding for cultural organisations.
We help you focus on what matters, with practical insights that spark action and get your team aligned on what to do next.
Our Services
Over fourteen years of experience working with museums, heritage and cultural organisations including…
We run research that matters
We’re proud to have worked with brilliant teams at the V&A, Natural History Museum, London Museum, and many more. Whether you’re planning something new or reflecting on what’s already out there, we’ll help you get the insight you need.
Formative and Summative Evaluation
Shape and assess exhibitions, programmes and strategies with evidence that supports learning, engagement and impact.
Audience Insight and Consultation
Understand who your audiences are, what they need, and how they experience your offer – helping you design with confidence and purpose.
Community-Centred Research
Collaborate with communities to co-create inclusive and relevant cultural experiences, grounded in dialogue and trust.
“Research that Matters were incredible to work with. From the get-go, their comprehensive pitch demonstrated a deep and well-researched understanding of our project and our needs. At all times, communication was clear, open and concise, and they integrated extremely well into our team and ways of working.
We were extremely impressed with the breadth and depth of their research methods and comprehensive presentation, and as a result have a fantastic understanding of the impact of our programming. “
Conor O'Keeffe, Public Programmes, Natural History Museum.
“They skilfully orchestrate research initiatives and ensures that teams seamlessly integrate valuable insights into their work… an invaluable asset to any team striving for user-centered excellence.”
Jeanette Clement - Head of Design at UK Parliament
“Research That Matters were easy (and nice) people to work with. They were thoughtful, thorough, and responsive to our needs. Steve and Emma’s flexibility provided timely input to decisions being made in other on-going projects.
They employed a varied mixed-method approach to achieve a detailed and evidenced understanding of the visitor experience, incorporating data from other teams in the Museum into their final report.
They provided clear and insightful feedback, including some uncomfortable truths we needed to hear. “
Dan Wormald, Senior Learning Advocate and Researcher, Natural History Museum.
“They listen carefully to understand what the business needs to know from audience research and their insights presentations pack a punch - exactly what's needed to turn heads and make things happen in the corporate environment.”
Jess Shiel - Director of News Products at Reach plc
“Research that Matters were fantastic to work with from start to finish, from their tailored proposal, to maintaining research rigour and being very responsive and lovely to interact with throughout. The findings and excellent playback were clear, comprehensive, and gave us a great steer on how to move forward. We very much hope to work with Steve and Emma again!”
Anna Jackson - Senior UX Researcher, Cambridge University Press & Assessment
The boutique consultancy led by Emma Taylor and Steve Bromley
Emma Taylor has a decade of experience leading audience engagement programmes in the cultural sector. Including the British Museum, Museum of London, Historic Royal Palaces and London Transport Museum.
She is passionate about helping cultural organisations understand and reach new underrepresented audiences through collaboration and partnerships
Steve Bromley is the author of the bestselling Building User Research Teams book.
Steve set up the first user research team for UK’s Parliament, established user research at the UK’s largest media publisher, and works with companies across the globe to make sure that research matters and companies are ready for the future.
Steve & Emma are backed by a diverse group of friends who have been working together for years to run impactful qualitative and quantitative research.