-
User Experience - Sharepoint, CRM and TFSWA Web UI
Make Dynamics (start with CRM) and Sharepoint and TFS (Web Access) consistent to end users. Please.
Remember the early days of office when an end user got used to Excel, and we could show them that the switch from WordPerfect to Word would be fine.
eg. "See Mary, it has the same File Menu and look at the toolbar, and the Tools | Options is the same place."
Well today I have bosses who love SharePoint, but I get no loyalty from them or their end users, when evaluating CRM4 vs Salesforce for their CRM. No loyalty because knowing SharePoint, does not help you know CRM.
The first thing they want to do is change a few things... add a few fields.... so start with making the customizing consistent...
eg.
- Modifying a list in SharePoint
- Modifying an entity in MS CRM
- Modifying a work item in TFS
Should all be the same experience.
-
Need a rich client application (using ClickOnce)
The web application is not responsive enough when your whole job is to use it all day long and also it gives a much better offline client
than the current Outlook client.
Remember OWA is great, but most people choose to use Outlook all day long.
CRM 4 and Sales Force do the same job, however sales people tell me that Sales Force is nicer. I believe this is because it uses more AJAX... similar to how I like Facebook more than Linked In.... just feels a nicer UI.
Figure: I don't ever want to see a blank screen like this - Either add some more AJAX or create a click once application (using SQL Compact for Offline)... Now this would make it more responsive than Sales Force!!!
-
Outlook clients stops you sending emails
After the CRM Outlook Client is installed, you will find that emails will sit in your Outbox without a send date (they change from italics to non-italics). This happens whenever you navigate to the outbox folder in Outlook and an item is selected.
Figure: BUG - Email is stuck without a sent date
Note: There is a work-around to send the un-sent emails - You open the item, switch back to Outlook and change folders out of the outbox. Then click send on the mail item and do not navigate back to the outbox until you’ve send/received.
-
Need a "Check Names" button
Microsoft CRM Need a "Check Names" button to work the same as Outlook ?so you can add a user by only knowing a few characters of their name.
Figure: Need a "Check Names" button
-
Installing Patches should increase the version number
After install a patch (Rollup 1 for Microsoft CRM 3.0, the cumulative set of updates for Microsoft CRM 3.0 Server and the Microsoft CRM Client for 3.0 ?mainly for Office 2007 and Windows Vista) for Microsoft CRM 3.0, can’t find any screen that tells you this has been successfully installed.
Figure: This version number should change when you install a update/rollup/service pack
The only quick way to tell it is installed is to go the Add Remove Programs and check on “Show Updates?
Figure: The only way to determine if Rollup 1 (KB922815) is installed
-
Outlook Toolbar - Server field
The Outlook toolbar should have a Tools | Options with field for the Server it is connected to.
Figure: Outlook toolbar should have a Server field
Currently you need to reinstall the whole Outlook client when you move the server.
-
Non standard separating dashes in Message Box
Remove the non standard separating dashes and improve the Message Box.
Figure: Non standard separating dashes
-
Expose Primary Contact on the Contact
Currently you need to go to the Account (Client) to change the primary contact. This should be changed to something like this:
Underneath the "Parent Customer"
If Stephen is the primary contact
Add checkbox "Primary Contact" [x]
If Not then
Add Primary Contact?[ Someone Else ] button [Make Stephen Primary Contact]
Figure: Contact information without exposing primary contact
-
UI to change CRM Server
When the CRM Outlook Client is installed, you cannot change the CRM server that you specified when you first installed it. We need a UI to change the server, like Exchange:
Figure: UI to change the Exchange Server
At the moment, the only way to change the server url is through the registry at: "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSCRMClient\ServerUrl".
-
CRM Environment Diagnostics Wizard
Allow this form to be expanded so you can see all in one ?or send a screen capture to someone else:
Figure: CRM Environment Diagnostics Wizard Form
Call this "CRM Configuration Manager" to be consistent with "Reporting Services Configuration Manager":
Figure: Reporting Services Configuration Manager
-
Change the "Status Reason" Message
See the 6th and 7th record (yellow parts) below, it would be better to change the "Status Reason" message from "Waiting For Resources" to "Waiting For Resources ?Check the service 'Microsoft CRM Asynchronous Processing Service' is running". Because it took too long to work out:
Figure: The message "Waiting For Resources" took too long to work out
-
More Deletion Information
If the deletion will also delete some related records, it would be better to look up and show them in this "Deletion Confirm Dialog":
Figure: Needs more deletion information in the Confirm Dialog
-
Export Customizations
In the customizations file:
- Format the XML correctly.
- List the customizations that were done in comments at the top. E.g.
There are 2 Customizations:
- Custom Entity 'Timesheet'
- Custom Entity 'Work Item'
Figure: Customizations file
-
Support Cardspace and WCF
Cardspace will only start being implemented by sites when customers are demanding it. The more products and services that support Cardspace the greater the potential it has to become mainstream/popular.
Currently CRM 4.0 will:
- Use standard 2.0 Web Services
- Support Live ID
The CRM team should issue 4.1 with support for:
-
Add some Virtual Earth integration and reports
Add some Virtual Earth integration and reports.
Figure: Spyk uses Microsoft Virtual Earth
For more details about Virtual Earth technology, please check out our Virtual Earth Solutions.
-
The Outlook COM Addin needs to be more stable
The quality of the addin is not good enough - the CRM team should install the Outlook addin from www.plaxo.com and aspire to that quality and integration.
The worst thing is it is buggy and causes outlook to crash.
Even worse when I disable the Addin it keeps coming back.
I thought I was dreaming first time - but now I know it's a persistent little bugger - this should NOT happen.
Figure: When you turn off the outlook COM add-in it should not come back magically some time later.
-
CRM and Outlook should be consistent with regards to Addresses
- Figure: Street Address in CRM
- Figure: Street Address in Outlook
That it should be the same as outlook? Or as a minimum an option in Customization to “have all addresses on 1 multiple line field?
Tips:
- You should be able to change this easily ?by making Address 2 and Address 3 invisible and make Address 1 multi-line.
- If you hate how CRM deals with addresses, then fill address in Outlook ?it does synchronizes back to CRM.
This issue hasn't been changed in CRM4.
We have a rule about this at Do you have consistent way to store a same field?
-
CRM should be able to make address single line and multi-line
Currently, CRM only allows to make address single line which is not appropriate, because address might contain much information that one line is not enough.
It's much better to support both single line and multi-line for users to input their addresses.
-
CRM should be able to config address style(single line or multi-line) in tools options
CRM should have 3 settings in tools options(next to each other), which allow user to choose single line or multiple line for the 3 entities
(Lead, Contact and Account).
-
Show me count in left hand navigation
Show me count in left hand navigation like Outlook
- Figure: left hand navigation
- Figure: count in Outlook
we have a rule about this - Data Layout - Do you have nodes count like Outlook?
-
CRM Laptop Client Installer - should have an option to use local SQL Server (if already installed)
PCs already run slow enough. And installing SQL Server Express 2005 is a heavy thing and if it can be avoided, it should.
The installer should have an option to point it at your current SQL Server (if installed)
-
Give more info on "Record Is Unavaiable" error
If user has just installed it and gets the following error message:
- Figure: Error message of "Record Is Unavailable"
It will be better if user can get more info than this. E.g. If there are no databases on the server, the following info should be included:
"There are no databases on this SQL Server. Please use the 'Deployment Manager' and create an organization."
Should show the price field in the default view
In default view for Campaigns you cannot easily see all the estimate revenue for all campaigns.
Estimated revenue is available after expanding the campaign but on a section by section basis.
It would be better to show this as an extra column as well as showing all campaigns estimated revenue, you can then sort from highest to lowest.
- Figure: Estimated revenue not shown in default view
- Figure: Estimated revenue hidden in expansion (but you can't sort on it down here)
Double click on a web UI is non standard
There are very few web pages if any on the internet where you HAVE to double click to open
- Either change the report to a hyperlink
- or view option on toolbar for the selected report
- or add to the tooltip "(double click to preview)"
- Figure: Single click to expand, double click to open record is confusing
Disabled fields should always indicate how to modify them
"Originating Lead" - is disabled - fields should always indicate what you need to do to un-disable them.
In this case once an opportunity is saved then the lead is locked into read only mode.
A tooltip indicating that the lead cannot be changed or how to change should be provided on the readonly field.
- Figure: Originating Lead is disabled after saving the opportunity - this is poor users can't change it after saving - as a minimum give a tooltip how to unlock it
Should be able to sort by more than one field
In CRM4 only allow sort by one field like below, but we need sort by more than one field:
- Figure: CRM4 Customizations only allows you to sort by one field
The sort should be visible from this UI
In CRM4 there should be some sort ability in below UI:
- Figure: There should be some sort ability in this UI
CRM should allow user to edit CSS
In CRM4, users should be able to edit CSS on their CRM Website and this CSS should be per organization instead of CRM web application.