Extend - A UI primer

Exploring UI Possibilities with Workday Extend As Workday Extend is still relatively new, we often receive questions from curious clients about what an Extend app might look like and the UI possibilities it offers. Here’s an overview to help you better understand the UI capabilities in Workday Extend.

For Customers Who Don’t Have Extend Yet

What (UI elements) you see in Workday everyday is what you get in Extend.

A good rule of thumb is to envision the different elements you already see daily in Workday—like text, buttons, links, tabs, hubs, charts, etc. These same components are available for building an Extend app. The Extend framework is designed so that a well-crafted app would be hard to distinguish from any other native Workday page. There are a few minor exceptions. For example, certain UI elements, like the drag-and-drop interface in Performance Calibration, aren’t available in Extend. However, this is a rare UI element not commonly seen in many places within Workday. A different spin of the above point- an Extend app cannot have an UI element that you cannot find somewhere else in Workday already.

For Customers Who Already Have Extend

PMD Dictionary App For clients who have purchased Extend but still struggle to visualize what an app could look like, I often recommend installing the PMD Dictionary app from the Workday Extend App catalog. This app, thoughtfully created by the product team, compiles all the UI components available in Extend into one ‘dictionary’ app that both customers and developers can use as a reference. I frequently use this app during brainstorming sessions for Extend.

If you have Extend and need assistance with installing this app, someone from our team would be happy to help.

Prototyping with a Partner If you have an idea but would like a more in-depth exploration of design possibilities, it might be beneficial to engage with a Workday Partner. We can start with some validation and prototyping sessions, offering complimentary brainstorming and high-level process and UX design sessions to help bring your app vision to life.

I hope this provides some clarity on the UI aspects of Workday Extend for those curious. If you want to learn more about how we can help with your Workday projects, let’s connect.