Consolidate Story Maps into ArcGIS Online

[SaraJL]

I know this is probably a long shot, but here goes!

I work with training a lot of new users - having the 2 separate sites for Story Maps projects is incredibly confusing. It presents 2 separate workflows for users. I'll essentially have to show the students 2 different ways to use the software because there is no way to reliably assume that people will click on one back button over the other.

If you click on the smaller arrow on Story Maps - it re-directs to https://storymaps.arcgis.com/

If you click on the back button on the browser - it takes you back to ArcGIS Online

It would be nice if everything was just consolidated into ArcGIS Online so users wouldn't be redirected to another site. I'm not sure if there is a functionality reason why there are 2, or if it has to do with licensing, but it can be quite a challenge for new users and for those that have to teach with the software.

Thank you!

[PeterKnoop]

I will add that we too are observing this kind of siloed user experience being detrimental to people understanding ArcGIS Online and StoryMaps. They may "get it", for StoryMaps, the day they go through a tutorial, however, they are often challenged on how to proceed again in the short term, and how to leverage other components of ArcGIS Online in the long run.

The current user experience develops an unfortunate perception and disconnect among our users that all they can do is work inside StoryMaps. Once the learn they can also access their stories directly from their ArcGIS Online content -- just like other content they may be working on, such as web maps, scenes, dashboards, insights workbooks, etc. -- then they are much more comfortable doing things, and better understand that StoryMaps is just piece of an overall picture; and a piece that can bring together other types of content they can generate.

A common observation is confusion around what the "filtered" view of their content -- showing just their stories -- is supposed to achieve. This is especially true when their story involves other types of ArcGIS Online content. And, a common question is, "why can't I start a new storymap or web map from 'New item' in My Content?" Often paired with observations like, "content is where all of my stuff is stored," or "content is where I create other kinds of ArcGIS Online content."

If one ditched the current StoryMap landing page, then it seems like the functionality that would need to be moved -- perhaps under New item in their content, or by clicking on the ArcGIS StoryMap app in the picker -- would be to choose between creating a new story, briefing, collection, or theme, and then proceeding directly with such.

This kind of user experience, shared by other tools too, enforces a siloed view of the system that might match development team structures, however, it appears to use to hinder usability.

[OwenGeo]

@PeterKnoop @SaraJL Thank you for these thoughtful comments. I certainly understand and acknowledge the situation you describe. Our intent is never to create more work or confusion because of our internal organization or development team practices, and we appreciate you raising some of the workflow difficulties you've encountered!

The solution prescribed here (consolidating into ArcGIS Online the StoryMaps site -- and potentially other similarly architected ArcGIS app sites like Hub, Experience Builder, Insights, Survey123, Urban, Business/Community Analyst, GeoPlanner, and more), however, is an enormous amount of effort (even for just one of those teams) and would eliminate many tangible benefits in terms of performance, frequent/flexible releases, improved SEO, and many other features. So while I'm not sure that suggestion is the best place to start, we're very interested in thinking about how we can address some of the usability issues that you've identified.

From my team's perspective, we'd like to understand more about specific pain points using StoryMaps (like the multiple BACK arrows, creating StoryMaps from the ArcGIS Content page, etc.) so we can look into addressing them. From a larger perspective, true consolidation is a complex issue that involves many parts of ArcGIS. It may be helpful to discuss it, as well as specific workflow issues, at our annual education group meeting at UC with some members of the core ArcGIS Online team and possibly other app teams. WDYT?

[SaraJL]

@OwenGeo I definitely wish that was possible and I would 100% go if I could! However, I won't be able to attend the conference in-person this year due to summer research groups I'm supporting and the cost of the conference.

If there is one of the virtual sessions that will talk about it, definitely let me know and I would be glad to go! Someday, I hope to be able to join the conference in person 😁 (maybe next year)

If there are any other opportunities or ideas that come up to share ideas, definitely let me know! I would be glad to participate is there is a chance.

[PeterKnoop]

@OwenGeo definitely a complicated problem! Happy as always to share pain points and use cases. Perhaps it would help to consider some more complete use cases too, rather than focusing on only the portion that intersects with StoryMaps in its current form?

(Even the organization of Ideas places in this community has the unfortunate side-effect of forcing things into specific silos, which makes it difficult to figure out where/how to discuss user scenarios that span multiple aspects of the system. @SaraJL's post getting moved around being an example.)

[PlantPestSurveillancePROJECT]

Dear all, thank you for this idea. From my organization point of view, it would be wonderful to have the the StoryMaps site within ArcGIS online. We have new people joining our team every six months or so and this issue always comes up. Our main problem is the creation and management of new themes, since most people go directly into ArcGIS online expecting to find everything there.

I understand the difficulties explained by @OwenGeo, so I look forward to the possibility of discussing this further.

Thanks and have a nice day!

[HelenCooper]

Dear all, interesting thread.  I've realised my browser shortcut bar reflects some of the difficulty here, as I shortcut to several different ESRI sites to get around some of these issues (the ideal solution would be to have everything available from the 'My Content' page, but I can see @OwenGeo that this isn't straightforward!)

Would it work to have a level above the 'my content' page, that linked out to everything (Experience Builder, Story Maps, Storymap Themes, Survey 123 etc.) so that users became accustomed to having that as the initial portal, and they can then explore relevant sub-sites as appropriate over time?

[J_DavidMacLean]

Thanks to @SaraJL & @PeterKnoop for "getting this topic" started and for replies/more ideas/things to look for by @OwenGeo & @HelenCooper. Similar to @PlantPestSurveillancePROJECT's situation, we have new users joining our organisation and many of these people have somewhat limited existing experience with the whole ArcGIS Online milieu. (The vast majority of our users are students and we have good course material to get them up-to-speed.)

I think I'll 1) update our short, introductory “get to know ArcGIS Online” StoryMap (has info on credits, groups, strongly suggested documentation ideas, ArcGIS Pro extensions, overall licensing, how-to access eTraining) with info on the variety of ArcGIS app sites and 2) ensure that all new users get an invite to read it. And, I'll stay-tuned to this thread topic, too.

Thanks!