How to Prepare for Your Transition to the Unified Interface

On December 1, 2020, the legacy web will be retired and all users will be automatically switched over to the Unified Interface

Microsoft’s Unified Interface for model-driven apps is currently available on Dynamics 365—and if you haven’t begun preparing to make the move to this updated user experience yet, now is the time to start. On December 1, 2020 everyone—ready or not— will be automatically transitioned.

What is the Unified Interface for Model-driven Apps?

The Unified Interface for model-driven apps is an update to Dynamics 365's user interface. It represents a strategic shift to a more responsive, intuitive, and app-based approach to the user experience. It makes a number of improvements on the legacy web client, but also impacts the way your app navigation and records are displayed on a visual and technical level.

Microsoft had previously announced that the legacy web client would be deprecated (no longer available) starting on October 1, 2020, however that date was extended to December 1, 2020. Dynamics 365 users will want to make the transition before 12/1/2020 to ensure a seamless shift.

What's New in the Unified Interface

Ability to base app access on security role
Improved form design
More intuitive controls
Improved timeline, filtering & sorting
Conversational nesting
Interactive dashboards
Business card scanning
Faster form & view loading
And more…

How to Prepare for Your Transition

For a typical end user, the move from the legacy user interface to the Unified Interface can be relatively painless. However, Dynamics and Power Platform admins should plan for some additional steps to prepare for the transition.

Take Advantage of New Features
The Unified Interface offers several enhancements and one we think is particularly exciting is the ability to use apps to tailor user experience based on roles. Can you split your users into multiple groups with specific business processes? Do these groups have different requirements for what they should see and do? If your answer is “Yes”, then consider having multiple apps. Each work-stream can have its own specific Dynamics 365 app and user experience. This can dramatically simplify your users' navigation panes and ensure they only see what they truly use. Consider how the Unified Interface’s new features can do to enhance your existing processes.

Understand the Technical Changes and Their Impact

The new interface represents a strategic shift that impacts not only layout and design, but also technical functionality. Your preparation plans should include reviewing existing plugins and custom scripts to identify if any components are at risk of breaking or will be no longer available after the switch. Some of the deprecated features, including Client API, Dialogs, standard SLA, and service scheduling, may still be used with legacy forms that are not available in the Unified Interface. They can cause issues that you will want to resolve before the transition. Be sure to test and prepare before the legacy web client officially deprecated in December.

Create a Pilot App

Microsoft recommends an initial test within a development environment where Unified Interface is enabled. After defining the key business activities needed to manage specific scenarios, a quick check will highlight any issues or gaps that need to be addressed in the new layout. A further step would be to create a pilot app used by a small user group with the essential functionality to handle specific use cases and generate some excitement by introducing the new capabilities. This pilot app approach can be completed within your production environment without impacting your existing web application users.

Plan Ahead

To ensure a successful transition, it helps if you plan as early as possible. This allows time for testing, training, and improvement. You can make the most of this process by collecting feedback from your team and building a prioritized list of issues and enhancements to optimize your users’ experience. We recommend maintaining an active list of gaps and requirements to plan for future iterations.

Make Improvements

Preparation for the Unified Interface transition is a great time to revisit your current setup. Some business behaviors have likely changed since your original launch and this is a good period to review processes and make updates while you're already going over your system. Consider additional business functions that would benefit from out-of-the-box capabilities from Dynamics and Power Apps within your organization. By interviewing users on the current organizational processes and features, you can focus on business value-based design and customization.

Drive Adoption
The new functionality creates a natural opportunity to re-engage with users. Take advantage of improvements that enhance user experience and see your communications about the changes and new features as a chance to get your team excited and drive adoption.

Questions about the transition to the Unified Interface? Fill out the form below. Our experts are here to help.

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