Hierarchy Control: Map Complex Relations

Key insights

• Hierarchy Control: Microsoft’s new hierarchy control shows parent-child relationships across related records in one view.
  Start at an account and drill into contacts, opportunities, cases, and custom tables without leaving the visual layout.
• Multi-table hierarchies: The v2 release adds support for multiple tables in a single hierarchy, so real-world relationships that span tables display together.
  V1 offered single-table preview in Aug–Sep 2025; v2 with multitable support rolled out in Oct 2025. Legacy control was deprecated Oct 2024 and removed Oct 2025.
• In-place editing: Users can view and edit records directly inside the hierarchy view.
  This reduces context switching and speeds common tasks like updating accounts or contacts.
• Configurable tiles: Administrators can customize what appears on each tile, including up to seven fields, plus size, color, pictures, and icons.
  That lets teams tailor the display for different roles and workflows.
• Operational efficiency: The combined visualization and editing experience improves decision speed and lowers navigation overhead.
  Teams gain clearer context about relationships and can act faster on customer data.
• Legacy control deprecated: The new control replaces the old, less-accessible hierarchy experience and aligns with modern design and accessibility standards.
  Admins should plan configuration and testing to migrate views and ensure user adoption in Dynamics 365 Sales environments.

The newsroom reviewed a recent YouTube video and accompanying blog post from Dian Taylor - [MVP], who demonstrated Microsoft’s updated Hierarchy Control for model-driven apps. The short explainer highlights a major change: the control now supports multiple tables in a single, interactive view. Consequently, users can start at an account and drill into related records such as contacts, opportunities, and custom tables without switching contexts.

Overview of the Video

In the video, Dian Taylor - [MVP] walks viewers through concrete examples to show how the new Hierarchy Control visualizes complex relationships across tables. She emphasizes practical use cases where accounts connect to contacts, opportunities, cases, and custom entities, and then demonstrates drilling down through those relationships in one unified interface. The demo makes it clear that the update aims to mirror how data exists in real business workflows rather than forcing users to navigate separate lists or forms.

How the Hierarchy Control Works

The control displays hierarchical tiles that administrators can configure to show up to several fields, images, and icons, which creates a compact, informative view of each node. Moreover, users can edit records in place from the hierarchy view, reducing the need to open separate forms and improving task flow. The ability to include multiple tables in one visualization marks a significant shift from single-table hierarchies and expands the scenarios where the control can be useful.

Benefits for Users

First, the new control gives teams immediate context about relationships and decision-makers, which helps sales and service staff act faster and more confidently. Because the view keeps related entities accessible in a single pane, users avoid excessive context switching and can make updates or follow-ups directly in the view. As a result, organizations can streamline common tasks and reduce time wasted navigating multiple screens.

Tradeoffs and Challenges

Despite its advantages, the multi-table hierarchy approach brings tradeoffs that organizations must consider. Greater configurability increases the planning and governance burden: administrators need to map relationships carefully, choose which fields to surface, and balance detail against visual clarity to avoid clutter. Additionally, rendering complex hierarchies across many records may affect performance, especially in large deployments, which requires testing and possibly limits on node depth or number of records displayed.

Implementation Considerations and Best Practices

When adopting the control, teams should start with a clear data model and a prioritized set of relationships to visualize, rather than attempting to show every possible link at once. It also helps to pilot configurations with a small user group to observe performance and usability, and then iterate based on feedback. Administrators should plan for security trimming so users see only the records they are permitted to access, and they should document configuration choices to support governance and future maintenance.

Accessibility, Maintenance, and Long-Term Use

Microsoft replaced a deprecated legacy hierarchy control after accessibility and usability concerns, so the new control must balance richer visuals with inclusive design to serve all users. Ensuring keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and clear color contrasts will reduce barriers for people with disabilities while meeting organizational accessibility standards. Finally, teams should monitor usage and performance over time, because evolving data volumes and business needs may require reconfiguration or additional optimization.

Overall, the video by Dian Taylor - [MVP] presents a pragmatic view of a feature that aims to make complex relationships visible and actionable within Dynamics 365 model-driven apps. While the new Hierarchy Control offers clear benefits in context and efficiency, organizations must weigh those gains against configuration complexity, performance risks, and ongoing governance needs. With careful planning, testing, and user training, the control can become a powerful tool to reflect real business structures and speed decision-making.

Keywords

hierarchy control visualization, visualize complex relationships, hierarchical data visualization, interactive hierarchy editor, relationship mapping software, organizational chart visualization, graph and network visualization, data relationship mapping