6.   Interpretation should understand and respect the audience

Knowing about your visitors will enable you to design relevant experiences, provide personal connections, and plan for a range of audiences. As visitor groups differ in many ways, it is important to have some understanding of your expected audience prior to designing interpretive content.

Some of the questions you might like to consider are:

How much time do they generally spend at attractions? What is the level of interpretation sought or expected? What do they already know? What are their previous experiences? What level of text will they be able to understand? What are their attitudes to various issues? What interests do they have?

Some of the suggestions already mentioned offer solutions for meeting the needs and interests of different visitor groups. Another common approach is to present information in layers so that visitors who only have a cursory interest in the topic can read the top 'layer' and quickly get the main message, while those wanting more detail can read subsequent 'layers'. Each layer should be distinguished in some way, such as size of text and use of subheadings.

It is important to remember that extra layers should provide further information and detail, but should not become more complex or difficult to read.

Layering information

Signs are much easier to read if they are presented in layers. Once you have your main text, it can be divided into layers:

Level 1	Title (including an introduction of the theme/message)
Level 2	Subheadings that divide the text
Level 3	Main body of text and key illustrations Layer 1: Main example of the theme/message (intended for all readers) Layers 2 & 3: More examples and information for visitors wanting more information on the theme
Level 4	Suggestions for putting new information into practice (eg. activities that can be done at the site or once visitors return home)

Let's look at this in practice:

Your main text is:

Bandicoots are small, rat-like marsupials (introduction) Bandicoot numbers are declining rapidly due to domestic and feral cats (theme/Layer 1) Bandicoots are largely nocturnal (Layer 2) Bandicoots eat insects and some plants. They have large claws which enable them to scratch for insects (Layer 2) The second and third toes of bandicoots' hind feet are fused together (Layer 3) Some bandicoots such as the eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) and the bilby (Macrotis lagotis) are very rare and are only found in limited areas (Layer 3) Cats are the greatest threat to the survival of bandicoots (reiteration of theme and take home message).

Layering is also useful for safety or conservation messages as it enables interpreters to highlight important information. Often, these issues are presented as part of the interpretation and tend to get 'lost' amongst all the other messages.Consider the effectiveness of these signs - which best conveys the safety message?