From CRM views to Datacards using PCF

PowerApps Component Framework can be used to transform the visual representation of CRM data (which was earlier restricted to only forms and views) into a more sophisticated and intuitive user experience.

This blog explores how a bland CRM view can be turned into a control of graphical nature that makes information more palatable to the visual cortex.

Scenario

The scenario we have is an entity called Ratings which stores ratings for various venues in Canberra.

1. We want to show the verified Ratings in green, while the unverified in blue.
2. The layout should render the smaller fields on the left (stacked top to bottom).
3. More descriptive fields like Review Comments should utilise lion’s share of the real estate towards the right.

Once the control is built and deployed to Dynamics, it can be easily consumed by your view designer using the View Customisations > Custom Controls section as shown below

Upon publish, you are able to represent the information in ways that were not possible before and meeting the three requirements outline above.

And yes, this is the same Dynamics 365 CRM’s typical view which we use everyday. So custom controls have answered to the call to a more intuitive UX design.

The source code used to create this datacard has been published here