When It's (Not) All About The Map

Released in February, ArcGIS Experience Builder allows you to create data-driven web applications using configuration and without the need for any code. In this post we’ll explore why you should consider Experience Builder for your next web site and show you how to get started.

Experience Builder allows you to build a fully tailored experience to present your GIS data and content to your target audience – and yes, a map is optional though not mandatory.

Having attended web design courses over the years, I learned that one common app design principle is experience i.e. the experience of the product or information on display, the experience of the purpose or goal of the web site, and the user experience of interacting with (and navigating through) a site’s content, functions and features.

Well-designed e-commerce websites deliver a compelling experience about a brand. They tell a story about the products on sale, make the experience personal and develop a sense of trust with the user – ensuring that those return visitor stats are boosted, and that all-important order ends up in the basket. A poor experience can mean visitors won’t be returning any time soon and may seek out alternatives.
 

• Should the approach to presenting GIS data be any different? Web sites typically provide information to support a decision. In the case of an e-commerce site, the decision might be “do I make that purchase or not?”. 
• For GIS web sites, information and location underpin decision making… a combination of the what and where… “What tourist attraction to visit next time I’m in town?”, “What services are in my area and where can I access them?”
• Good designers ‘think like the customer’, and I urge you to think about your customer or target audience when planning your next project. There is a wealth of information, media and other hidden gems tucked away in your humble geodatabase and it’s waiting to be showcased in new & innovative ways.
• So why not build an experience around it.. Sound good? Then let’s get started.
   

To begin authoring web sites go to https://experience.arcgis.com/ and sign-in using a user type with creator privileges. Upon sign-in, you are presented with a launch-pad from where you start building your site. Where wireframing was once the de-rigueur of web design, Experience Builder allows you to prototype quickly and share previews for feedback, though it can be beneficial to think about your site structure and layout in advance.
 

At this point it’s worth highlighting that Experience Builder is mobile adaptive, meaning that all of your designs will display on smart phones and tablets. 

Hint: toggle the live view switch to get a preview of your page, then change the target device to preview what it looks like on a selection of screen sizes.

Once you’ve selected a template you’re ready to get designing. Working in Experience Builder feels a lot like working in other CMS platforms (Wix, WordPress, Drupal). Design tools are accessed from the main toolbar and components can be added to the site in a familiar drag ‘n’ drop pattern.

Now, you’ll need to set a data source. Using the add data tool, browse your organisation and select one or more web maps, web scenes (3D is supported) and feature layers to dynamically power the site’s content and data. 

Hint: embed content on the page and 'hydrate' widgets with text and media direct from your live GIS data source. You can dynamically insert text blocks populated from your own live data. You can even format field values using Arcade expressions to present you data in a more meaningful way.
 

Hint: The menu widget is aware of your pages and supports navigation across the entire site. Choose from traditional menu with horizontal & vertical links, or a ‘hamburger’ menu.
 

Hint: Consider the emotional impact of colour on your site. Web designers harness this technique, as the right colours can create the right moods and atmosphere for your site.
 

Experience builder supports inter-widget communication. Ok, that sounds a bit sci-fi, but essentially it allows a widget to react and do something (an action) after a specific event (a trigger) occurs in another widget. This event driven framework allows you to configure advanced functionality without the need for coding.

Hint: Configure the list widget listen for the map extent change trigger and set an action to filter the list showing only those features in the current map display.