Latest release of Dynamics 365 Guides completely revamps user experience

Applies to: Dynamics 365 Guides in preview (version 103.1907.4001.0)

We’re very pleased to announce version 103.1907.4001.0 of Dynamics 365 Guides in preview! This is a big release that we’ve been working on for quite a while.

In this release, we completely revamped the user experience for PC and HoloLens. The updated design addresses usability issues based on user feedback and research, refreshes the look and feel to align with the Dynamics 365 brand, and improves performance and stability.

NEW IN THIS VERSION

User experience improvements for the PC app

In addition to the new look and feel, the PC authoring app redesign features four key improvements:

  • What’s new panel. This new notification panel keeps you up-to-date with the latest and greatest features and news and also lets you know if you need to update the Dynamics 365 Guides solution in Dynamics 365.
  • Responsive design. The app now gracefully scales to different screen and window sizes.
  • Easy navigation. We added a navigation bar on the left side of the Step editor screen which provides easy access to Outline view, guides list, alignment, and analyze pages.
  • “Add a step” button. It’s now easier to add a step from the Step editor page with a clearer button in the top menu.

User experience improvements for the HoloLens app

The most notable UX improvements for the HoloLens app include:

  • Gaze interactions for lists. The gaze interaction element is now on the left side of list items which makes selection easier and less error-prone.
  • Revamped icons. Various icons have been revamped to improve usability.
  • Styles menu. The Styles menu now features better previews and easier-to-use selection buttons, which makes it easier and faster to select the right style for your 3D model.

Other improvements for the PC app

  • We addressed application stability issues when minimizing and maximizing the app or resuming from standby/sleep mode.
  • To help maintain context, the name of the guide currently being edited will always be displayed on the title bar and navigation menu even if you go to the home screen.

Other improvements for the HoloLens app

  • Improved pagination of tasks and steps in the list view.
  • Object scaling now has a minimum and maximum to make it easier to manage large or small models.
  • More reliable placement of 3D models during HoloLens authoring.
  • You can now pin menu screens in place in the same way that you can pin the Step card.

Upgrading the Dynamics 365 Guides solution

We highly recommend that you update your Dynamics 365 Guides solution to improve stability and performance, although it’s not required for this release. If you did not update the solution with the last release, doing so will enable authors to change anchor types after guide creation (from printed anchors to digital anchors and vise versa) and will make the guide creation process simpler. To update the Guides solution, see these instructions.

NOTE  Before updating your Dynamics 365 Guides solution, make sure the HoloLens app and the PC app have the latest updates.

We’re excited to get your feedback on our first major design overhaul since our private preview release! Please visit our Dynamics 365 Guides forum at https://community.dynamics.com/365/guides/f/dynamics-365-guides-forum to post your questions and feedback.