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Analytics

The Power of Apps: Focused tools that get work done

By Gisele Mounzer

Explore innovative ways to use apps for your ArcGIS work in Chapter 7 of The ArcGIS Book

Apps are often built around targeted workflows that deliver streamlined user experiences. They’re designed to guide users through specific tasks, to show only the data required for that task, and to simplify how information is communicated.

Every map has an interface—a user experience for putting that map to use. These experiences are apps, and they bring GIS to life for users.

Chapter 7 of The ArcGIS Book will get you thinking about app possibilities by  providing many examples of apps that are being used to tell a story, engage with users, collect data, track and monitor objects and people, manage operations, and so much more. The Quickstart in this chapter walks you through your options for creating an app, from using out-of-the-box apps, to building apps without having to write any code, even to coding your own apps from scratch.

This free smartphone app from iGeology lets you take over 500 geological maps of Britain wherever you go to discover the landscape beneath your feet.

Abhi Nemani is a writer, speaker, organizer, technologist, and GIS power user. He serves as the first Chief Data Officer for the city of Los Angeles, where he leads the city’s efforts to build an open and data-driven LA. He is also the featured thought leader in this chapter. “I firmly believe the best way to connect with people is to go to where they are,” says Nemani. “We should not only be creating beautiful and elegant citizen-facing solutions, but also developing more effective tools for public servants to better serve the community: data analysis tools to prioritize service delivery, workflow systems to streamline communications, and data collection tools to speed up on-the-ground reporting, just to name a few.”

With GeoPlanner for ArcGIS, a city architect/analyst combines factors such as slope, aspect, population, and distance to water to understand the implications of many different development scenarios.

The Learn ArcGIS lesson in this chapter will have you create a before-and-after swipe map of the area that experienced a major landslide in Oso, Washington. You will add before-and-after imagery layers to an ArcGIS web map, save the map, and easily share the map as an app using Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS. You will build skills in the following areas:

  • Adding layers to a map
  • Using Web AppBuilder
  • Changing map symbols
  • Sharing a map as a web application

What GIS app will you build? Find your inspiration.

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