With ArcGIS Experience Builder, you have the flexibility to design a web app according to your preferences. It can range from a simple map with a legend to a more immersive experience featuring multiple pages, scrolling screens, 2D and 3D data, imagery, surveys, and dashboards.
Throughout last year, our users utilized ArcGIS Experience Builder to create web apps for various unique and significant workflows. These include engaging the public through education and virtual events, addressing transportation and housing issues, and documenting the effects of natural disasters. In this blog, you will discover highlighted user stories and apps created in 2023, showcasing features and designs that you may want to incorporate into your own web apps.
2023 User Stories
Somerset County, New Jersey Develops Interactive Application to Explore Affordable Housing
The Somerset County Housing Navigator website aims to connect people with housing options that match their needs and preferences. ArcGIS Experience Builder was used to provide users with a comprehensive view of available housing options in their area and enable them to search and filter homes using various criteria. Users can either locate a home that meets their criteria or connect with agencies that can help them understand their housing options.
- User: Somerset County Office of GIS Services
- Industry: Local Government
- Key features:
-
- Scrolling page app
- Splash window appears when users first open the app
- Header is set to stay at the top of the page when scrolling and contains a Share widget with lots of options for sharing the app
- Button widgets that link to other pages in this app
- Card widgets under “What would you like to explore?” have hover states, meaning they change when you hover the pointer over them
- Feedback form is an ArcGIS Survey123 form added with the Survey widget
-
University of Maryland Students Develop Interactive Site to Improve Cyclist Safety in Prince George’s County
This app was created by the University of Maryland’s Intermediate/Advanced GIS course to display the bicycle level of traffic stress (LTS) for Prince George’s County’s road network. This map, utilized to give staff and residents the ability to see the county bike network, has been used to make the county roads safer by identifying obstacles that prohibit residents’ ability to bike safely.
- User: University of Maryland Urban Studies and Planning, Maryland Department of Transportation’s Office of Planning and Capital Programming
- Industry: Local Government, Transportation, Urban Planning
- Key features:
-
- Fullscreen app
- Splash window appears when users first open the app
- 2D view of various neighborhoods utilized to illustrate the breadth of the county bike network
- Zoom functionality enables users to glean LTS data that is specific to their zip code
- Bookmark widget on the left side of the app demonstrates what LTS bike routes look like
- Widget Controller widget includes a collection of other widgets such as Map Layers, Legend, and Bookmark widgets
- Search widget connected to two-layer sources enables users to find an address or trail route
- Legend & LTS Methodology window is a fixed window anchored to a Button widget
- Table widget neatly displays additional data about the bike routes
-
Public Land for Public Good’: Boston’s Map of City-owned Property
This application is used to visualize the inventory of all city-owned property in Boston and identify all vacant or underutilized property. The city uses this data to decide how best to deploy public land to serve Boston’s most urgent needs. The app gives the public the chance to filter through properties based on owner, current use, parcel ID, and more.
- User: Kate Moore, City of Boston
- Industry: Education/Research, Local Government, and Urban Planning
- Key features:
-
- Fullscreen app
- City of Boston branding in images, app theme colors, and basemap
- Filter widget enables users to filter through properties based on relevant criteria
- Each filter has a custom icon
- Some filters let users choose the input from a drop-down list and others allow users to type an input
- The filters appear in a ribbon because they use the Horizontal arrangement style and the Button activation style.
- Mobile responsive design adapts to different screen sizes
-
Mars Mission Tracking App and How to Create In-App Tutorials
This web app tracks the progress of Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter on the surface of Mars in both space and time. Users can view Perseverance’s pictures of the Martian surface, track Ingenuity’s flight paths, and see each robot’s current location.
- User: Bruno Sousa, Rice University Center for Research Computing
- Industry: Education/Research, National Government
- Key features:
-
- 3D app – includes 3D terrain model of Jezero Crater, Mars
- Up-to-date images from the robots, with a filter that lets users view images from nine of their cameras
- Landing page with a button to go to the app home page
- Custom Time Slider widget made by Rice’s Wilson Franca
- Tutorial for the measure tool made up of a Button widget, Section widget, Views Navigation widget, Image widgets, and Text widgets
- In-app tutorial’s Image widgets include Esri icons and GIFs
-
Apps Added to the Gallery in 2023
PLACES: Local Data for Better Health
This app provides an interactive map for model-based chronic disease-related estimates of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) PLACES (Population Level Analysis and Community Estimates). PLACES includes 36 measures (13 health outcomes, 9 prevention measures, 4 health risk behaviors, 7 disabilities, and 3 health status) at the county, place (incorporated and census-designated places), census tract, and ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) levels.
- User: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Industry: National Government, Hospitals and Health Systems
- Key features:
-
- Fullscreen app
- Option to read descriptive text about the health outcomes of a selected region by clicking on the map
- Zoom functionality enables users to specify cities where they want to source health data for
- The buttons above the map link to different views of the same map
-
Girl Scout Cookie Tracker
This application allows girls and volunteers to track their cookie booth sales. In addition, sales from previous years can be loaded so troops can efficiently plan and predict the best locations, times, and variety of cookies expected to be sold.
- User: Rose Dopsovic, Bethlehem Friendship Service Unit – Girl Scouts of Eastern PA
- Industry: Nonprofits and NGOs
- Key features:
-
- Fullscreen app
- Filter widget enables users to locate the nearest cookie booth and their hours of operation
- Ability to look at the sales performance of Girl Scout Troops over the years
- Chart widget shows cookie sales by variety and date. This data is populated based on the filters applied.
-
Confronting the Wildfire Crisis
The Wildfire Risk Reduction Infrastructure Team has created this web app to share information related to how the US Forest Service is confronting the wildfire crisis.
- User: US Forest Service – WRRIT
- Industry: National Government, Fires-Wildland
- Key features:
- Fullscreen page app
- Splash window appears when users first open the app
- Menu widgets at the top and bottom of the home page let users navigate through all the app’s pages
Northern Beaches Council Conservation Zones Review
This app covers the Northern Beaches of Australia and enables users to view the criteria used to determine the proposed changes to zoning, permitted land use changes, and maps from contributing studies.
- User: Northern Beaches Council Spatial Information
- Industry: National Government, Urban Planning, and Education/Research
- Key features:
-
- Scrolling page app
- Feature Info widget enables users to view how changes to permissibility may affect their property by clicking their city on the map
- Button widget enables users to navigate to external resources that can provide additional insights to the information acquired in the app. It also enables users to switch views from current zones to proposed changes
- The Filter widgets turn the layers on the map on and off
- The text that appears when you select a parcel is a Text widget linked to the parcel data and uses dynamic text, meaning the text changes based on the attributes of the selected feature
-
Lake Country Trails Map
This app shows the variety of trails for walking, hiking, and biking in Lake Country with all levels of accessibility and difficulty filtered on a map.
- User: District of Lake Country
- Industry: Local Government, Transportation
- Key features:
-
- Fullscreen app with Scrolling List widget
- Search widget enables users to search for trails that suit their preferences
- Filter widget enables users to filter trails based on level of difficulty and accessibility
- The List widget is set up with Zoom to and Pan to message actions that target the map. When users select a trail in the list, the map automatically pans to that trail and zooms to an appropriate scale that fits the whole trail.
-
GIS Day Expo Virtual Exhibit Hall
This app was used as a virtual exhibit hall for county departments for Los Angeles County’s GIS Day 2020, 2021, and 2022.
- User: Los Angeles County Departments
- Industry: Local Government
- Key features:
- Scrolling page app
- Button widgets enable users to see how different LA County departments leverage GIS
- Feedback form is an ArcGIS Survey123 form added with the Survey widget
Utah Rockhounder
This web experience is a map-based, continuously updated resource of Utah rock, mineral, fossil, and landscape rock collecting sites. It is used as a preliminary resource for identifying places to visit and collecting samples.
- User: Utah Geological Survey
- Industry: State and Regional Government, Education/Research
- Key features:
-
- Custom developer edition app
- Fullscreen App
- Filter widget enables users to view different types of samples
- Search widget enables users to find specific rock, mineral, and fossil types
- Feature info widget shows information about a selected feature on the map with images and attributes
- Anchored Window displays map info when clicking the map info button.
-
Kansas Environmental Public Health Tracking Data Explorer
The Kansas Environmental Public Health Tracking Data Explorer allows users to interact with and examine environmental health data in various ways.
- User: Jessica Willard, Environmental Health Section Program Director; Rachel Santos, EPHT Data Analyst; Amy Roust, Geospatial Database Administrator
- Industry: State Government
- Key features:
-
- Custom developer edition app
- Dynamic metadata updates based on the choices in the Enhanced Filter widget
- Users with vision impairments or different color scheme requirements can use the custom Color Scheme manager to display the information as they like
-
OIT-GIS Accessibility Guidelines
Colorado’s Governor’s Office of Information Technology has created guidelines to help GIS users create accessible maps and apps. These guidelines include resources, tips, and a checklist to assist in making accessible content.
- User: Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology GIS team
- Industry: Education/Research, State Government
- Key features:
-
- Custom developer edition app
- This app neatly organizes everything on the home page using a Grid widget
- Typography page uses a Views Navigation widget with three views, one each for Font, Size, and Styles. The three buttons at the top link to a view, so users can see the three different things while staying on the same page.
-
Now it’s your turn! Getting started with ArcGIS Experience Builder is easy when you leverage our pre-configured templates. Instead of starting from scratch, simply click on “create new” and choose “ArcGIS Online” to access a diverse selection of templates.
Check out more examples of apps made using ArcGIS Experience Builder in our app gallery. To submit your app to the gallery, complete the form found on the gallery page. We can’t wait to see what you create!
About the author
Article Discussion: