Usability of Visiting Routes in Heritage: The Case Study of Mercati di Traiano

Large museums as services to the community, can be considered strategic facilities needing exploitation after the health emergency. Through optimising usability, some methodologies and tools taken from other building uses (hospitals, airports) for analysing users and flows seem effective in testing new spaces’ uses. The case study of Mercati Traianei–Museo dei Fori Imperiali was investigated in two different periods and methods for comparing the impacting factors on usability and orientation of visiting routes. A direct analysis in 2015 detected crucial issues for walking through museum routes and connections, while a more recent indirect analysis went deeper through configurational methodologies included in the Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS). This methodology empowers analysis of the space syntax, and the factors affecting the visitors’ satisfaction. The two methods were found to be effective for a deeper knowledge of the museum and its priorities. Tools of direct on-site observation are essential to promptly identify obstacles for upgrading usability. Instead, the configurational analysis allows a much faster application and supports a more global and dynamic vision of more inclusive visiting routes, avoiding visitors’ stigmatisation.