An overview of the Dynamics 365 Unified Interface

Power Apps Control Framework (PCF):

In the legacy web client and the older Dynamics 365 interface, forms would display plain fields and grids, with limited customisation and lacking visualisations. With the new framework, visuals and controls can be accommodated. This is basically a platform that allows extensible controls to be built, such as sliders, switches, dials and ratings, which allow for greater visualisations across forms.   This screenshot shows some of the PCF controls in action…

Navigation Enhancements:

An improved navigation experience was one of the most requested enhancements, according to Microsoft. Previously, the navigation menu ran along the top and arrows were used to navigate through the system. In the Unified Interface, this is now featured down the left-hand side. To save space, the bar can be minimised to show only the icons.  However, this relies on memorising what each icon is, or continually hovering over them to find out. This section also shows personalised links including recently visited and pinned sections.

Form Improvements:

The forms within Dynamics 365, such as contact and lead forms, are now displayed more simply than previously. It still provides the same necessary information, but is presented in a cleaner navigation format.

• The business process display (e.g. the qualification process) has an improved user experience with drop-down menus appearing when a stage is clicked, freeing up more screen space.
• Timeline showing all activity (phone calls, emails, notes, attachments) in one place, rather than having separate tabs for each area.
• Tabs for ‘Summary, Details, Related’ – no need to scroll down the form, users can now switch easily between the tabs.
• Refreshed appearance for the action panel at the top of the page (New, Qualify, Process, Disqualify, etc).

Search Improvements:

More filtering options are now available when searching for information, allowing users to leverage a more refined search criteria.

Dashboard Enhancements:

Another significant change that is part of the Unified Interface, are the dashboard enhancements. The dashboards are now embedded across all device types so can be accessed wherever you may be working. Additionally, Power BI dashboards can now be viewed from a mobile device.   There are also additional features that were not previously available via the original dashboard:

• Interactive dashboards in the new Unified Interface allows access specifically to the entity you are working within.
• New visual features enable you to display charts that act as filters on the entire dashboard.
• Users can easily interpret data and list their preferred views, prior to drilling down further.

Advanced Find:

This feature is still available in a hybrid experience (see below for description). This means that Advanced Find can still be used in the Unified Interface, but remains in classic web style