With all the technology available, many of us were able to transition to a remote and virtual workplace almost seamlessly. Using video conferencing, virtual collaboration tools, and more, we have been able to stay connected with our colleagues, collaborate, and continue our work as we did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some things are still hard to replicate in the virtual world, and things like “Zoom fatigue” are beginning to affect more people. With so many of our events and activities still being conducted virtually with less opportunities to engage directly with people, it can be difficult to connect with your audience and keep them engaged while you are sharing information with them. I think back to sitting in lecture halls in college, no matter where you sat, your professor would be able to tell very easily if you weren’t paying attention or losing focus and could call on you to get you to re-engage. Multitasking, losing focus, or just jumping off a virtual meeting without anyone noticing is very easy to do these days, but very hard to combat. While there have been challenges to staying engaged virtually, one of the major benefits is that using virtual engagement tools opens the door to a larger and generally more diverse audience. We recently used Esri’s Experience Builder to develop an application that helped the Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary, The Nature Conservancy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with conveying best practices for fishing at Gray’s Reef virtually to anglers in Georgia.
Keeping Users Engaged in a Virtual World
Prior to the pandemic, the Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary, the Nature Conservancy, NOAA, and other partners were working to educate anglers in Georgia about the importance of using best practices for fishing to prevent trauma to deep-water fish like snappers and groupers. These workshops were in-person and interactive and provided overviews of how anglers can be involved in citizen science efforts. Due to the pandemic, those meetings had to be conducted virtually and thus an interactive and engaging tool was needed to convey this information. Instead of relying on Zoom meetings and PowerPoint presentations, the team decided to develop an interactive experience using Esri’s Experience Builder that would be easy to use, engaging, informative, and easily accessed from the Gray’s Reef website.
Considering the User Experience
Rather than using a lengthy slideshow or complicated applications to convey this information, we developed a simple application that operates like a kiosk in a museum. Users have a simple and easy-to-use navigation across the bottom of the screen that helps them understand how far along in the experience they are, while allowing them to easily jump ahead or refer to previous information.
Rather than using a lengthy slideshow or complicated applications to convey this information, we developed a simple application that operates like a kiosk in a museum.
Sid Pandey
Figure 1- Home page for the Gray's Reef Best Practices Fishing Guide, where users are greeted with an embedded video of Stan Rogers, Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary superintendent.
Figure 2 - Each section of the experience incorporates high resolution/eye-catching imagery depicting what anglers can expect to see while in the sanctuary.
To make the experience engaging and interactive, we utilized the Experience Builder’s capabilities to create pop-ups or “windows” for additional information that appear upon a user clicking a button or link. This feature allowed us to include high-resolution images to give anglers an idea of what they have to look forward to at the reef, the equipment they should be using, and also some of the signs of trauma that they need to keep an eye out for in the fish they are reeling in.
Figure 3 - Using Experience Builder's buttons to easily link anglers to best practices, rules, and regulations at the sanctuary.
Figure 4 - Anglers receive best practices and other helpful information using Experience Builder's pop-up window feature.
Figure 5 - High-quality imagery is embedded to support best practice information to educate anglers on what to keep an eye out for when fishing at the reef.
The Experience Builder also allows you to embed resource from other locations, including websites, videos, and applications that you have developed. To help explain the difference between various types of sea floor at the reef and to showcase where anglers are not allowed to fish (inside the research area), we developed and embedded an interactive story map to display that data.
Figure 6 – An embedded interactive Story Map showcases various types of sea floor at the sanctuary.
To make this experience as accessible and inclusive as possible, the team was able to leverage Experience Builder’s capabilities to enable alternate text and tooltips that allowed us to appropriately describe what was displayed on screen for anyone requiring the assistance of a screen reader or other tools to interact with the experience. The tooltips also allowed us to easily include image credits and appropriately credit the providers of each image or video.
Figure 7 - Experience Builder has the ability to add captions and alternate text to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all users.
The Gray’s Reef Best Fishing Practices Guide
This experience combines best practices for fishing at the reef; rules and regulations that anglers, boaters, and divers must follow; and information on how anglers can participate in various citizen science efforts. The guide provides an accessible tool that can be easily shared with anglers everywhere and accessed at any time, increasing the team’s reach and ability to educate anglers in Georgia. This Gray’s Reef Experience was made possible by The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the Nature Conservancy, the Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant Program, Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources – Coastal Resource Division, Fish Smart, and NOAA Fisheries.
Figure 8 – Clicking the “info” icon in the top right corner of the experience displays a pop-out window crediting/highlighting all the partners involved in making this project happen. All images courtesy of NOAA.