Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Experience Analyst : Configure focused view

Focus View in Microsoft Dataverse (and Dynamics 365 apps built on it) is a productivity feature that helps users stay organized by highlighting the most important records and activities in one place. Instead of searching through multiple lists or dashboards, Focus View presents a curated list of prioritized items — such as leads, opportunities, or cases — based on filters, status, or due dates. This enables users to concentrate on high-value work, track progress at a glance, and act quickly on pending tasks. It’s especially useful in customer engagement scenarios, where managing time-sensitive records efficiently improves responsiveness and overall user performance.


What is Focus View?

Focus View is a modern productivity experience in Microsoft Dataverse (and apps like Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, or custom model-driven apps). It gives users a personalized, prioritized workspace where they can see the records that need their attention most — without navigating through multiple tables, views, or dashboards.

Key Capabilities

Prioritized list of records
  • Displays items such as leads, opportunities, accounts, or cases based on importance, due dates, or other conditions.
Unified workspace
  •  Combines related tasks, activities, and notes for each record, so users don’t have to open several forms.
Action-oriented design
  • Users can update fields, add notes, log calls, or create follow-ups directly from the Focus View panel.
Smart filtering
  • Supports filters based on status, due dates, ownership, or other metadata, making it easy to adapt to business needs.
Business Benefits
  • Improved efficiency – Users spend less time searching and more time acting on important items.
  • Better prioritization – Helps staff focus on tasks with the highest impact, such as hot leads or escalated cases.
  • Higher data quality – Encourages timely updates and complete information entry.
  • Enhanced customer experience – Faster responses to customer inquiries and opportunities.
Technical Notes
  • Available in model-driven apps built on Dataverse (e.g., Dynamics 365 Sales).
  • Leverages the Dataverse security model, so users see only records they’re permitted to access.
  • Can be customized by administrators to align with organizational processes, including which tables and fields are shown.
Focus View streamlines work for business users, supports architects in designing efficient processes, and offers developers a structured area to deliver enhancements — driving productivity across the organization.

Business Users
  • Prioritize work easily: See the most important leads, opportunities, or cases in one place.
  • Save time: No need to search across multiple views or dashboards.
  • Act faster: Update records, add notes, or complete tasks directly from the view.
Solution Architects
  • Improved adoption: A clean, guided workspace helps users stay engaged.
  • Process alignment: Configure which records and fields appear, matching business priorities.
  • Security compliance: Leverages Dataverse roles, ensuring only permitted data is visible.
Developers
  • Extend functionality: Use Power Platform tools to tailor Focus View with custom controls or commands.
  • Integrate seamlessly: Build solutions that surface key data where users need it.
  • Lower support load: A clear UI reduces errors and simplifies maintenance.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to configure Focused View in a Dataverse (model-driven) app such as Dynamics 365 Sales or Customer Service:

Prerequisites
  • You need a role with Customization privileges (e.g., System Administrator or System Customizer).
  • Make sure you’re using a modern, model-driven app (Unified Interface).
  • Focused View is supported for tables like Leads, Opportunities, Accounts, Contacts, Cases, and custom tables.
Enable the Focused View

1. Open Power Apps → Solutions (or choose your app from the Apps list).
2. Select the table you want (e.g., Opportunity).
3. Under Views, locate Focused View (or create a new one if needed).
4. Make sure the Focused View is published for that table.

If the table doesn’t have Focused View, confirm that the feature is enabled in your environment (Settings → Features → Focused View).

Customize What Users See
  • Edit the columns shown in the Focused View grid (e.g., Topic, Est. Revenue, Status).
  • Add filters so only relevant records appear (e.g., “Open leads assigned to me”).
  • Optionally configure quick commands or activities (phone call, task, note) to make the view action-oriented.
Add to Your App

1. In App Designer, open your model-driven app.
2. For the relevant table, enable Focused View as a presentation option (beside “Read-only grid” or “Editable grid”).
3. Save and Publish the app.

Test & Roll Out
  •  Open the app as an end user and switch to Focused View from the view selector.
  •  Verify filters, columns, and commands behave as expected.
  •  Train users on how to pin Focused View as their default.
Summary:
Focus View turns Dataverse into a streamlined, action-oriented workspace. It gives business users clarity on what to tackle first, helps maintain clean data, and supports faster, smarter decision-making.

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