General Reporting User Experience Guidelines

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Reports are tools that present various views of data in one place. Reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 are generated by Microsoft SQL Server Server® Reporting Services.

A report is launched through the Reports group in an area page

A report is launched through the Reports group in an area page

Design concepts

Introduction of Reporting Services functionality in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 gives designers the opportunity to improve the visual quality, readability, and overall effectiveness of reports, and to ensure that reports are consistent across the system.

A parameters form typically launches before the report to define the data boundaries of the report

A parameters form typically launches before the report to define the data boundaries of the report

Report categories

There are two categories of reports: auto-designed and precision-designed.

Auto-designed reports

Auto-designed reports are based on a template that sets default values for the following elements:

• Font family and sizes

• Lines

• Colors

• Alternate row banding

• Row height

We recommend that you use the auto-design template whenever you can.

Precision-designed reports

Precision-designed reports are based on the auto-design templates, but they allow more precise adjustments of presentation elements, such as the following:

• Padding

• Margins

• Alignments

• Headers and footers

• Images

• Notes

Report types

All reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 can be classified as one of three types:

• Documents (for outgoing reports; for example, order confirmation and invoice)

• Simple lists (for internal reports)

• Grouped lists (for internal reports)

Examples

Document-type report

Document-type report

Simple list-type report

Simple list-type report

Grouped list-type report

Grouped list-type report

Guidelines

The following sections contain the guidelines for reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

How to make a report effective

For reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to be effective, they should be designed so that they are:

• Simple and cleanly designed.

• Easy to skim and read.

• Consistent across all report types.

• Aligned with design guidelines.

• Easy to localize and customize.

  • Optimized for U.S. formats (letter, tabloid).

  • Acceptable for European formats (A4, A3).

Reports should also be designed to accommodate advanced Reporting Services report data visualization features, such as charts.

Paper size and page orientation

Reporting Services will scale reports to fit screen resolutions, which often makes content illegible. Whenever possible, reports should be designed to avoid illegibility when they are resized.

When possible, you should design reports to fit within standard U.S. page sizes as long as that does not violate key report scenarios. Standard U.S. page sizes are as follows:

• 8.5 x 11 inches—letter size, portrait orientation

• 11 x 8.5 inches—letter size, landscape orientation

• 11 x 17 inches—tabloid size, portrait orientation

• 17 x 11 inches—tabloid size, landscape orientation

Margins, padding, and fonts

Reports should have the following default settings.

For print and screen margins

For printing, all documents should share the same page margins, and those margins should accommodate printer hardware limitations. All documents should have a 0.5-inch margin at the top, bottom, left, and right side of the page to ensure legibility.

For padding within report components

Padding—the space between sets of information—is primarily handled through auto-design templates. The following standards—not typically controlled by auto-design templates—should be used to maintain legibility for all types of reports:

• 0.0625 inch minimum between columns in grids.

• 0.125 inches between related information (for example, between fields in same group or between column header and table content).

• 0.25 inches between non-related information (for example, between groups).

• 0.50 inches between separate paragraphs (for example, between non-related groups).

For fonts

Font sizes, by default, should be handled by auto-design templates. The font should be Segoe® UI for all text. The font priority, in descending order, should be Segoe UI, Arial, Tahoma®, Verdana®, Sans Serif.

• The font for the title of the report should be Segoe UI, 14 pt bold for all reports.

• The font for all other content should be Segoe UI, 8 pt, in either bold or regular font.

• Hyperlinks in reports should use the default link color (blue).

Examples

Document-type report (showing margins and padding)

Document-type report (showing margins and padding)

Grouped list-type report (showing margins and padding)

Grouped list-type report (showing margins and padding)

Colors

To ensure maximum printing legibility, report colors should be restricted to white, black, and gray (#F0F0F0). If a report has a hyperlink, the link text should use the default link color (blue #0066DD), text size (8 pt), weight (normal), and font (Segoe UI).

The following image shows the recommended color values for non-linked report text.

The following image shows the recommended color value for hyperlinks:

Recommended color restrictions are different for charts. For the color guidelines in charts, see the Charts in Reports User Experience Guidelines.

Standard report components

Every report should have a page header at the top of every page and a content area below the header. The header, page numbers, date, and time should be repeated across all pages.

Page headers

A report header should have these standard components:

• Main title

• Subtitle

• Page number

• Date

• Time

Page header style:

• Text should not be underlined.

• Title should be set in Segoe UI, bold, 14 pt, black.

Subtitle style:

• Subtitle should be set in Segoe UI, regular, 8 pt.

• Subtitle should be <Company Name>.

Page number style:

• Page numbers should be set in Segoe UI, regular, 8 pt.

• Page numbers should be stacked.

• Page numbers should be in <Page n of m> format.

Example

Content

This section contains general guidelines for the content in a report, and guidelines for table columns, table rows, overflow fields, and labels and field values.

General content guidelines

Report content should use the default styles defined by an auto-design template whenever possible.

• Document-type reports should have 0.5 inches of space between the last line of text in the header area and the beginning of the report content. Document-type reports are usually precision-design and do not have auto-design templates applied.

• Simple list reports and grouped list reports should have 0.125 inches of space between the header area and the beginning of the report content. This spacing is handled through the auto-design template.

• Table content (for all report types) should start 0.125 inches below the column header.

  Example

  

If a filter range is displayed, it should be:

• Left-aligned above the table content.

• 0.125 inches below the column header.

• Set in Segoe UI, regular, 8 pt, black.

Example for filter range:

Filter ranges can be stacked vertically. The vertical layout is recommended.

When stacked vertically, the column will have fields on the left side and values on the right side. Both should be left-aligned.

Example

Table column guidelines

Column header guidelines:

• Column headers should not wrap individual words onto two lines.

  Grouped list report with column headers

  Grouped list report with column headers

• A solid line should span the entire column header area below the column header text.

• All column headers should be set in Segoe UI, bold, 8 pt, black.

• All column content should be set in Segoe UI, regular, 8 pt, black.

Placement:

• A document report table should be 0.5 inches below the last line of text in the report title.

• A simple list report or a grouped list report table should be 0.125 inches below the last line of text in the report title.

• Table content should be 0.125 inches below the column header.

Column width guidelines:

• Column widths should accommodate the content appropriately.

• Lengthy column headers should break into multiple lines when necessary.

• Fixed-width content should not have more than 0.5 inches of space between columns.

  Example
  A currency column should not be 3.5 inches wide because the content in this column would consist of only a few short currency abbreviations (for example, US, EUR).
  A date column should not have 0.5 inches of space to the right of the year because the content in this column would be quite limited.

Variable-width content:

• Variable-width content should be given priority horizontal space.

• Variable-width content should not wrap or have overflow fields, if possible.

• Variable-width content should be left-aligned.

  Example:
  A name column can have significant variations in the length of its content, and the column should be wide enough to accommodate this. In addition, text in the column should be left-aligned to make it easier to read.

Column alignment guidelines:

• Column headers generally should be aligned according to the data type:

  • The default text alignment should be left-aligned.

  • The first column header should always be left-aligned regardless of data type.

  • Numbers that can be tallied—as well as amount and quantity data—should be right-aligned.

Column headers should repeat across all pages. Column headers for simple list reports and grouped reports should repeat across the top of all pages.

Example

Page 1 of a report, showing column headers across the top

Page 1 of a report, showing column headers across the top

Page 2 of a report, showing column headers across the top

Page 2 of a report, showing column headers across the top

Table row guidelines

Rows should use the default styles:

• Row height should be 0.16 inches.

• Simple lists should have a background color of light gray (#F0F0F0) for every other row.

• Grouped lists should have a background color of light gray (#F0F0F0) for the grouped content area.

Date format:

• Date formats should use the default regional settings of the report.

Currency

• There should be a currency column directly to the left of corresponding amount columns.

• Currency symbols should be used in amount headers when applicable.

• Currency symbols should not be used in amount fields. (Exception: You may use currency symbols in totals, if relevant.)

Totals:

• Totals should appear directly after their details.

• Amounts (whether single-line or grouped-column) should align with their details.

• The column should be right-aligned.

• Totals should be in bold type.

• The labels should be "Total", "Subtotal", and "Grand total".

• Labels should appear immediately underneath the light gray background of a grouped area, and not within the gray background.

  Example for a document report

  Example for a document report

  Example for simple-list and grouped-list reports

  Example for simple-list and grouped-list reports

Grand totals:

• Grand totals should appear directly after the last subtotal or totals, and should align with their details.

• Grand totals should have a line directly above the grand total.

  • If there is one total in one row, the overline can span the entire row.

  • If there are multiple totals in one row, the line should appear within the confines of the column.

    Example 1 for grouped list reports

    Example 1 for grouped list reports

    Example 2 for grouped list reports

    Example 2 for grouped list reports

Overflow field guidelines

Overflow fields can be placed on one or more lines under each entity line. The use of overflow fields helps to maintain default page sizes.

• Overflow fields should be used to maintain default page sizes.

• To ensure readability, overflow fields should be indented to align with the second column (which typically is the text column).

In the following example, columns for Size, Color, and Site are overflow fields that have been placed in each row to maintain page size requirements.

Label and field value guidelines

With a printed document or a document that uses a strict grid system, it is unnecessary to use colons or dotted lines to align labels with their field values.

• Colons should be used only after labels of overflow fields.

• Dotted lines should not be used to connect labels and field values.

• Colons should not be used after labels.

• Colons should not be used in outgoing documents.

Guidelines for a document report

• The default company address should be left-aligned with the upper-left corner of the document report.

• If there is more than one address required for the document report, we recommend that a label be provided above each address.

  Example:
  For some documents, such as sales receipts, there could be an address for the default company, a shipping address, and a billing address on the same report, and we recommend providing a label above each address.

• Summary groups (and header information) should be positioned on the right side of a document report.

  Example

  

Guidelines for a grouped list report

This section contains the guidelines for major column headers, minor column headers, and orphan controls in a grouped list report.

Major column headers:

• Major column headers should be bold.

• Values for major column headers should also be bold.

• There should be an underline across the major column header row.

• Major column headers should be bottom-aligned.

• Major column headers should be repeated once across the top of all pages.

• Major column headers should not have colons after fields.

Minor column headers:

• Minor column headers should be bold.

• Minor column headers should be placed within the gray (#F0F0F0) background of the grouped content area.

• Minor column headers should not have an underline.

  Example

  Major and minor column headers and major column values should be bold

  Major and minor column headers and major column values should be bold

Orphan controls

Whenever possible, content that is grouped together should fit on the same page. The last row of any grouping should not appear on a separate page of a report.

Launching a report

Report title

A report name should be applied consistently from area page to parameters form to report title.

Parameters form

As part of best-practices, we recommend that appropriate defaults be set according to key scenarios for these parameter pages.

• Reports that generate chronological data should have the From or From date field set to <current date> by default.

  Example

  Parameters form for a report on delivery date

  Parameters form for a report on delivery date

• Focus of the form should be set to the first field in the form.

• Careful consideration should be given to messages for reports that have no current available data. In some cases when data is unavailable, a report should still be generated and should show a default message stating that there is no current data available. For example, reports should still be generated:

  • If the report is time-sensitive.

  • If the report counts down to a zeroed amount.

  • If key scenarios require reports to confirm that items, products, balances, and so on, are no longer applicable.

See also

Charts in Reports User Experience Guidelines