{"id":2988030,"date":"2026-11-10T08:38:05","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T16:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2988030"},"modified":"2026-11-10T08:56:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T16:56:40","slug":"impact-of-desktop-resources-on-editors-productivity-and-user-experience","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis\/administration\/impact-of-desktop-resources-on-editors-productivity-and-user-experience","title":{"rendered":"Impact of desktop resources on editors\u2019 productivity and user experience"},"author":226402,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[37501],"tags":[],"industry":[],"product":[421922,36561],"class_list":["post-2988030","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-administration","product-arcgis","product-arcgis-pro"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":226402,"user_firstname":"Derrick","user_lastname":"Burke","nickname":"Derrick Burke","user_nicename":"dburke","display_name":"Derrick Burke","user_email":"dburke@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2021-05-03 22:15:13","user_description":"Derrick Burke is an Architect at Esri who helps organizations design, build, and sustain ArcGIS systems that deliver business value. He is passionate about sharing knowledge and helping customers maximize the value of their GIS investments. In his free time, he enjoys surfing, sailing, and mountain biking.","user_avatar":""},{"ID":8992,"user_firstname":"Raymond","user_lastname":"Bunn","nickname":"Ray","user_nicename":"rbunn","display_name":"Raymond Bunn","user_email":"RBunn@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2019-02-15 17:46:51","user_description":"Ray is an Architect with the Technology and Innovation Team. He leads an initiative to design and test ArcGIS systems with a focus on user experience.","user_avatar":""}],"short_description":"Impact of desktop resources on editors\u2019 productivity and user experience ","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2988102,"id":2988102,"title":"LaptopResources","filename":"LaptopResources.png","filesize":1825828,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis\/administration\/impact-of-desktop-resources-on-editors-productivity-and-user-experience\/laptopresources","alt":"","author":"226402","description":"","caption":"","name":"laptopresources","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2988030,"date":"2026-11-06 23:32:17","modified":"2026-11-06 23:32:17","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1350,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources.png","medium-width":392,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources.png","large-width":1350,"large-height":900,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources.png","1536x1536-width":1350,"1536x1536-height":900,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources.png","2048x2048-width":1350,"2048x2048-height":900,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources-698x465.png","card_image-width":698,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/11\/LaptopResources.png","wide_image-width":1350,"wide_image-height":900}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Are your desktops properly resourced? Have you ever wondered how adding resources might improve your users\u2019 ability to work productivity? Well, we have some test results to show you.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Infrastructure teams naturally look at utilization, capacity, and configuration. Editors experience those choices differently: as a delay while a map redraws, a pause while a tool completes, or a workflow that takes several extra minutes. Repeated across a day and across a team, small delays add up to reduced productivity- which can result in significant operational costs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We conducted a <\/span>desktop editing test study<\/span><\/a> to measure the impact of desktop hardware on user experience and their ability to work efficiently.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hardware decisions should begin with the workflows they need to support. In our tests, properly resourcing ArcGIS Pro desktops for our editing workflows produced measurably improved system performance and user productivity.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The practical lesson is not to default to buying the largest machine. Rather, identify where resources are constrained through testing your own workflows and observing whether additional hardware investment produces a positive ROI when factoring in productivity gains. Let\u2019s dig into the test results to get into the details.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hardware choices are part of the user experience<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

This relationship matters especially in <\/span>virtualized environments.<\/span><\/a> When a GPU is unavailable, <\/span>ArcGIS Pro<\/span><\/a> may use CPU emulation for graphics capabilities, which can produce suboptimal performance in workflows that depend on graphics processing. CPU <\/span>requirements also vary by workload<\/span><\/a>, making telemetry essential for identifying bottlenecks rather than relying on a generic configuration.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The hardware choices you make directly affect the user experience and should be evaluated (in large part) by how much they improve or reduce your users\u2019 ability to complete their important business workflows.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No guessing \u2013 let\u2019s look at the results<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Hardware planning often begins with historical sizing, a default recommendation, or the belief that a larger configuration is automatically safer. Those approaches may establish a starting point, but there is no one-size-fits all \u2013 it is going to depend on your specific workflows and requirements.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the <\/span>test study<\/span><\/a> we used a systematic approach:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Chose one aspect of the system configuration to test at a time, holding everything else constant:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\n