Fall NEARC 2024

The New York Department of State, Office of Planning, Development, and Community Infrastructure, with Stone Environmental, have reimagined the New York Geographic Information Gateway website using ArcGIS Online. Now that the new Gateway is live, the team has turned their attention to a version of the website for kids in grades 3-6. The website is called KidsMapVenture and the team built it with ArcGIS Hub, ArcGIS StoryMaps and an ArcGIS Instant App. The purpose of the site is for kids to learn about geography with interesting, engaging ArcGIS Online content and external websites. Also, KidsMapVenture empowers educators with resources and activities for their students to enhance learning about geography, particularly in New York State.

Our team carefully designed content that is relevant to New York State learning standards to support teachers’ curriculum and help kids gain skills in geographic awareness. We conducted user research with adults and students, integrating their input into an accessible design. Learn how our team configured a GIS website for a younger audience, the tools they used, user research sessions that helped enhance the content, and design choices that make the website interesting for kids.