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Customization is one of the most effective tools to ensure users are maximizing application capabilities by tailoring them to their organization or individual use cases. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales users love the sales accelerator experience, where they get a prioritized list of customers and an optimized workspace. It is a modern view that provides seamless navigation and relevant guidance regarding the next best activity the user should take, without multiple context switches. However, our users told us they needed more flexibility to customize work item cards according to the requirements and use cases of specific organizations or users. That flexibility is now available.

The new work item experience enables users to customize work item cards according to their needs and organizational requirements. With key information visible in the work item cards and relevant filters and sorting mechanisms easily available, users can make quick, informed decisions about the next entity or sales workflow to select, just by glancing at the curated worklist.

Screenshot of work item appearance customization settings.
Work item appearance customization options

The key highlights of this feature include: 

  • Modify the information, icons, and action buttons displayed in a work item card so that the most relevant data for Sales entities is always available
  • Control the customization at the organization (admin) and user levels

Let’s understand the capabilities in detail and how you can benefit by customizing work item cards across your sales scenarios.  

What is work item card customization? 

The ability to customize work item cards is a new capability offered as part of the sales accelerator workspace. It allows users to customize the design, content, and structure of work item cards to display the most relevant and valuable information in the work item. Users can personalize work items for each entity type they work with, by adding, removing, or modifying icons, activities, and the number of rows or the number of fields in each row, which are displayed as part of the out-of-the-box card structure. Users can view the fields and activities that are relevant for them in any ongoing sales processes. 

Who will benefit from customized work item cards? 

Work item card customization is beneficial to individual users, business admins, and sales managers, as this feature provides control at both organizational and user levels. 

Work item card customization is available for business admins without having to change any settings. If you have an admin role in your organization, you can start using the feature right away to customize work item cards. Define the work item card structure that will be visible in the worklist of the sales accelerator workspace for all relevant entities in accordance with your organizational directives or sales scenarios.

As an admin, you can lock customization to ensure that users are not able to make any modifications to work item cards without reaching out to you.

Screenshot of lock customization capability for admins page.
Lock customization capability for admins 

If allowed, users can define the work item card structure for all relevant entities according to their own requirements and advantages. The customized view is visible only to the user, and they can always restore the default card view with a single click.  

Below are some of the use cases for customizing the work item card: 

  • If sellers are directed to prioritize opportunities based on the estimated revenue, an admin can update the structure of the Opportunity work item to show the “Estimated Revenue” field.
  • To pick up an opportunity based on a field like “Rating,” which is not part of the Opportunity entity card, users can modify the card structure to add the field.
  • In cases where lead cards are displaying information that isn’t relevant for the user’s work, they can remove unneeded fields and keep the ones they find relevant. 

How to customize work item cards? 

A card designer with dynamic preview options allows users to view their changes as they are making them, reducing design errors and minimizing rework while modifying the card structure. The designer comes with a one-click “Reset to Default” option available at any point in case they want to return to the out-of-the-box card structure for an entity.  

Users can make the following customizations using the card designer: 

  • Modify the card icon to add an image, initials, or record or activity type associated with the record 
  • Add up to three fields and three icons in a single row 
  • Add up to four rows 
  • Remove rows or fields (a minimum of one row is required) 
  • Add action options from an available set (skip, preview, assign, mark complete, etc.) to perform the actions without having to delve into the form details of each entity

The card designer allows users to update the design and structure for all the sales entities by selecting the relevant one from a list. Changes that admins make are reflected in work item cards for all users. Users can modify and save their own card structure, which overrides the out-of-the-box or admin-defined structure.

Screenshot of the work item card designer.
Work item card designer

Next steps 

To start designing your own customized work item card view in the sales accelerator workspace, check out the documentation: Customize the appearance of work items in sales accelerator | Microsoft Learn

If you are not yet a Dynamics 365 Sales customer, check out theDynamics 365 Sales webpagewhere you can take a guided tour or get a free 30-day trial.

The post Customize work item cards to boost seller productivity appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.