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user-interfacewebdynamics-crmdynamics-crm-2011

How do you improve user experience in Dynamics CRM 2011?


I know it's hard to, but how do you improve user experience in Dynamics CRM 2011?

  • How do you design your forms? Are your forms "full of iframes"? Do you hide all the fields then insert an iframe that hosts and exposes all the features?

  • Do you try to mimic the default style of Dynamics CRM in the iframes (so that it integrates better with the user interface)?

  • The Xrm.Page.data.entity.attributes allow installation of onChange() handlers. That's all as far as I know. How do you deliver good user experience by having almost no feedback from the user?

I hope these are common sense questions :) Thank you in advance!

PS: I'm kind of new in Dynamics CRM development and... how do you make an autocomplete text-field?


Solution

  • With regards to mimicing the default style, I think you'll find the style guide in the SDK useful for matching particular colors and fonts, etc. You can find it in sdk\resources\styleguide:

    sdk\resources\styleguide

    As for improving the experience, I try not to fight what the CRM framework provides. I use the existing controls as much as possible and use supported javascript to smooth over the on-form details. If you have a specific requirement we can suggest solutions. The form events for onload, onsave, and onchange provide an acceptable level of feedback for almost all situations on a data form. What specific requirement do you have that requires more than those?

    Hope that helps.