New Features
The Marine Data Exchange is on a journey
Originally created in 2013, the MDE is now celebrating it's 10 year anniversary!
Technology has continuously transformed, demands on the marine environment have increased significantly and the needs of our customers and stakeholders are ever evolving. Recognising the need to adapt, we launched the new look MDE in 2021, but while we’ve updated our mode of transport, we are still on a journey. It’s a journey with clear goals but with no predefined route of how we get there.
We’ve learnt a lot in 10 years. The most important lesson of all is that the MDE needs to be able to continuously evolve to meet the needs of the changing marine sector. For the tech-savvy, that means modular, technology agnostic, agile and product-based, and for those that just want to access data and evidence, that means user-drive and design-led.
For our latest updates, check out the new features section below:
New Features & Improvements
What have we done in 2023 so far?
Stories on the map:
We’ve added Stories to the Spatial Search Interface. By doing so, we increase the discoverability of Stories, encouraging more people to learn about offshore marine industries and the marine environment. This is just the first part in a plan of upcoming upgrades to the MDE. Watch this space as we add Data Highlights to our interactive map in upcoming weeks.
Multi-select Filters:
We’ve been exploring and experimenting with our Filters, to understand how we could enable our users to search for data in a more direct and efficient way. To enable greater search capabilities, we’ve made our Filters multi-select, allowing MDE users to pin-point available data by picking and choosing multiple data themes, phases, industries, timescales, areas, leasing rounds and development sites.
Mobile enhancements:
We've made significant improvements to the mobile version of our map, providing a more streamlined and user-friendly experience. The new mobile interface offers a focused view and quick access to filters, drawing inspiration from popular apps, resulting in a familiar and intuitive navigation. By reducing cognitive load, we aim to make the map effortless to use for our users. Additionally, we have introduced a new series overview feature exclusively for the mobile version. This feature enables users to easily access key information from each data set, enhancing their understanding and interaction with the map.
Newsletter history:
We're excited to introduce the new archive feature that enhances the discoverability of our newsletters. Now, users have easy access to a comprehensive collection of all the newsletters we've sent up to the present date. With this convenient archive option, you can effortlessly explore and revisit past newsletters, ensuring you never miss any valuable information or updates. Stay informed and connected with our rich history of newsletters right at your fingertips.
New Series Card on the Map:
Your feedback matters to us. We're excited to announce significant enhancements to the series card functionality on our map. We've listened closely and made improvements to not only provide more comprehensive information but also enhance the visual appeal of the series cards. The behaviour of the cards now aligns with common sites we're all accustomed to, making it effortless for users to interact with them. Furthermore, this improvement allows seamless access to additional content that was previously available only on each series' detailed page. By eliminating unnecessary clicks, we bring the data upfront, enabling users to quickly explore and engage with related content directly from the map. We believe this improvement will enhance your overall experience and make discovering valuable information easier and more intuitive.
Make this site better for you. Get in touch with your thoughts, ideas and feedback: mde@thecrownestate.co.uk
Introducing the Spatial Search Interface tool
You asked, and we listened. Our new Spatial Search Interface (SSI) tool is now available on the site. The SSI allows MDE users to search for survey data via an interactive map, making industry data more discoverable and accessible to all. If you have any comments or feedback, then please contact us via:
We will also publish a page dedicated to the SSI soon, to tell our users all about its journey and where it's going in the future.
Check out our SSI video below:
Other Updates...
What you've said : What we've done
We've received your feedback and we've listened. Alot of the feedback results in bug fixes and other small developments, but the feedback also leads to us updating and releasing some major changes to fuctionality, such as the Data Highlights:
Data Highlights
There is a vast amount of information stored within surveys on the MDE. To make the data more accessible, we’ve created the Data Highlight tool, which gives you a snapshot of the kind of information that is stored within a survey or report.
Although we have the functionality, making these highlights can take some time, so we only have a few examples right now. You can find them by scrolling to the bottom of the series landing page. The Data Highlights provide a snapshot of the survey or research project through an overview of the methodology, results and findings . We have a variety of surveys on the MDE, so each Data Highlight will be structured a little differently to suit the survey.
To check out our new Data Highlights feature, follow the links on the cards below. In the meantime, we will be working hard to produce more highlights, starting with the surveys you like to access the most.
