A museum wanted visitors to spend more time reading exhibit labels. It replaced long labels with short questions followed by optional detail cards. Average reading time increased, and more visitors discussed the exhibits with companions. Yet the change was not equally useful in every gallery. In the crowded entrance hall, visitors often skipped both the questions and the cards. In a quieter history gallery, the questions encouraged visitors to predict an object's purpose before opening the detail card. Staff first concluded that short labels were always more engaging. After reviewing the gallery records, they revised the claim: a question-based label can invite closer attention when visitors have enough space and time to respond. The museum then tested the same idea with audio stations. Visitors listened longer when the opening question referred to an object directly in front of them, but not when it introduced background information that appeared elsewhere. Across the two trials, the useful principle was not simply brevity. Engagement improved when the prompt, the object, and the visitor's immediate situation matched.