Story Map Shortlist supports the ability to add point, line or polygon features into the map that your readers can click on get info via their standard popups. We call these 'supporting layers'. To add supporting layers to a Shortlist, you manually edit the web map used in the Shortlist. You can't add supporting layers via the Story Map Shortlist Builder. The symbology and popup configuration you choose for the layers you add into your web map are automatically used in your Shortlist. It's not possible to hook up supporting layers so that they display information in the Shortlist tab area (the area where info about the Shortlist points readers click on is displayed). So this does provide a way to give people additional info about features on the map that aren't displayed in the Shortlist tabs, as long as you are OK with this info appearing in popups. See this FAQ for more info: Frequently Asked Questions | Story Maps
Conversely, we often see Shortlists containing additional supporting layers where the popups aren't configured and so don't look good. If you want to include supporting layers but don't want your readers to be able to click on the feature(s) they contain, like a county or study area outline, be sure to turn off popups for those layer(s) so that people who click on them don't see an unconfigured popup.
Rupert