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Designing Great User Experiences

  • Article

This topic contains UX recommendations that you should consider when you design a Microsoft Dynamics NAV application.

Focus on the Users

Designing for end users means reducing the complexity and amount of information that users are faced with. It means designing with people’s pain points in mind, and giving that more priority than the database layout.

With that in mind, you should strive to create a system that has the following capabilities:

  • Easy to learn.

  • Intuitive to navigate.

  • Easy to extract information from.

  • Supports the business processes that users perform, which makes it easy for users to get their tasks done.

  • Reflects the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model so the features support the customer’s scenarios.

  • Provides users with a visually attractive and well-organized user interface.

Structuring the Application

Use the following steps to identify the elements for the user interface:

  1. Use the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Model to determine the particular personas that you are targeting. Learn about the work they do, how their day is organized, what they prefer, and so on.

  2. List all the different job descriptions (with their specific individual tasks) for the users who will use the application. These become the user profiles that you target.

  3. For each user profile, interview the users and list the tasks that they perform and the data entities that they use in their job.

  4. For each user profile, make the data entities users need available as list pages in the navigation pane.

  5. For each user profile, group the lists into distinct “activities” that match the lists that are typically needed during a week. These become the Activity buttons in the navigation pane.

  6. For each Activity button, view the tasks with regard to this activity and make sure that all the needed lists are available. Duplication of list pages to multiple Activity buttons is acceptable.

  7. For each user task, list the fields (maybe from other entities) that users may want to use to make informed decisions, list the fields users have to fill in, and list the actions users must invoke to handle the task. These are the elements that will be represented in the Task page through ribbon actions, visible fields, and FactBoxes. For more information, see the Creating task pages section later in this topic.

  8. When several different tasks involve the same, or almost the same data, a single task page can support multiple tasks. The resulting task page should then have the sum of fields and actions needed.

  9. If the same task page is used by multiple user profiles for multiple tasks, then include the combination of elements required by these and use the configuration feature to remove the elements that each user profile will not need.

Creating task pages

Use the following steps to create task pages for your application.

Step Guidance

Make sure that you thoroughly understand the customer scenario context.

Write a good scenario description, which does the following:

  • Sets the stage in a language that can be understood by users.

  • Describes achievement of a business goal.

  • Is grounded in current practice, but describes the future.

  • Is focused on a specific user profile or how users collaborate.

  • Is not too specific about user interface or technology.

  • Stays within the realm of technical possibility, but leaves the door open for novel solutions.

Clearly state the user tasks that you want to support.

Write a good task description, which does the following:

  • Takes the perspective of only one user profile.

  • Explains what is achieved, not how it is achieved.

  • Rolls up related subordinate tasks to make sure focus is on the most important tasks.

  • Is specific about the user’s context, what information is needed, and what the possible outcomes are.

  • Ties back to the user profile’s needs and goals.

  • Enables design goals to be created.

Brainstorm task page design ideas as a team, preferably involving both business and technical perspectives.

When having a brainstorming session, remember to:

  • Defer judgment. Build on others ideas (“Yes, and…”).

  • Have one conversation at a time and stay focused on the topic.

  • Be visual and capture alternatives along the way. Use low-fidelity sketches as much as possible.

  • Go for quantity over quality. Do not go into too much detail.

Create a storyboard of the key frames to capture and communicate the steps that are required to complete a scenario.

When creating a storyboard, do the following:

  • Outline each step a user must take to complete the scenario first. Add the details later.

  • Construct a good flow for the most typical scenario.

  • Include end-users in the evaluation of design ideas early and often.

Build a prototype.

When building a prototype, do the following:

  • Use pen and paper.

  • Use the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Development EnvironmentPage Designer. Take screenshots from the visual preview.

  • Use multiple iterations.

See Also

Concepts

Customization: Configuration and Personalization
Dos and Don'ts