A Practice-Based Protocol for Optimizing Art Exhibition Display Design via Spatial Zoning, Interpretive Labeling, and Visitor Feedback

Art exhibition display design profoundly shapes visitor navigation, interpretive engagement, and overall experience. Yet, spatial layout, labeling, and visitor feedback are typically evaluated in isolation, obscuring the impact of coordinated design decisions. This study introduces a practice-based protocol integrating functional spatial zoning, hierarchical interpretive labeling, timing-and-tracking observation, and structured post-visit feedback. A prospective, two-period comparative design evaluated an indoor art exhibition under conventional and optimized display conditions (N = 260; 130 per condition). The optimized protocol divided the exhibition into six functional zones, established a distinct route hierarchy, and standardized label dimensions and placement. Primary outcomes included wayfinding clarity, route deviations, label-read rate, immediate recall, and overall satisfaction, alongside secondary behavioral and experiential metrics. Relative to the conventional baseline, the optimized display significantly improved wayfinding clarity, label-read rates (+11.1 percentage points), immediate recall (+0.80 points), and overall satisfaction (+0.33 points). While route deviations decreased marginally, the optimized condition yielded longer label engagement, superior interpretive understanding, expanded zone coverage, and reduced visual fatigue. Backtracking, perceived crowding, and emotional resonance remained largely unaffected. This protocol offers a reproducible framework connecting display-design decisions with visitor movement, learning, and evaluation. Results demonstrate that coordinated spatial and interpretive optimization selectively enhances distinct dimensions of exhibition utilization rather than uniformly altering all facets of the visitor experience.