User experience first
One of these ideas, was how to provide the best user experience for all staff. With a wide variety of skilled workers using the system, the user interface needed to be clean and simple to use. Luckily, Microsoft Dynamics 365 already provides a familiar experience, as staff were already using other Microsoft platforms, but Chorus developed the system further to enhance user experience.
“We knew that user experience was a top priority for The Donkey Sanctuary” explains Nick Murdock, Senior Product Solutions Architect at Chorus. “We did a few simple changes to Dynamics 365, such as configuring bespoke terminology and applying icons to the system, but we also took it a step further by suggesting a custom interface for the teams that needed to enter lots of data rapidly. Our technical team worked with our UX designers, to build a web interface within Dynamics 365 so they had an attractive data entry display within Dynamics that made data entry very quick and efficient.”
“The ability to batch process data through a user-friendly window has been a hugely popular function with our farm staff, who need to enter and apply data to hundreds of animals” adds Sarah.
Custom process flows were also developed, which allowed staff to consistently work through their unique processes when rehoming donkeys. “Ultimately, we want to rehome healthy donkeys so that they have a safe and caring home but this requires a long procedure with lots of checks” says Sarah. “Having our exact process in the system means we don’t have to compromise and can capture all this information with cues along the way so that every check is completed and captured.”
These key milestones, such as being rehomed or medical updates, needed to be recorded in one place. Custom milestone timelines were built so that teams could quickly see the entire history of each donkey. “Having this overall view of the animals and their history, allows us to work more effectively and help provide the right level of care to each donkey” reveals Sarah. “As we help thousands of donkeys we need to be able to have a clear overview in one place but also to see each animal’s history, movements and status.”