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Use cases & best practices (People Directory)

Guide to common use cases and best-practice tips for using the People Directory app

What are typical use cases for People Directory?

People Directory is designed to help users quickly find and connect with colleagues, making it ideal for intranet homepages, team dashboards, or department pages. Common scenarios include:

  • Organization-wide people finder – allow users to locate anyone in the organization using search or filters, especially useful in large companies or multi-site environments.

  • Team and department visibility – highlight colleagues by department, company, or location using filters or card attributes, helping users quickly understand organizational structure and connect with the right people.

  • Quick access to colleagues – configure quick filters to help users narrow results by department, location, or role, giving immediate access to relevant contacts.

  • Customizable profile display – show selected attributes on cards or list columns, such as role, department, location, or team, so users get the right context at a glance.

  • Presence awareness – enable Microsoft 365 presence icons to see who is available online, making it easier to choose the best way to connect.

Any time you want to make it easier for employees to discover, reach, and engage with colleagues, People Directory provides a centralized and flexible solution to help users find the right people, fast.

 

Best practices for using People Directory

  • Promote as a central people-finder – link to the People Directory from your intranet homepage, navigation menu, or key department pages to ensure users can easily access it when they need to find colleagues.

  • Choose appropriate layout options – select Card, List, or both views, and choose card sizes that balance detail with page layout. Large cards provide more profile information, while small cards keep pages clean.

  • Tailor displayed attributes – select which Entra ID attributes appear on cards or columns, reorder them, and rename them to business-friendly labels for clarity.

  • Leverage actions – enable or disable actions like Mail, Call, and Chat, and reorder them to suit your organization’s communication practices.

  • Use search and filters effectively – configure A–Z filters, search, and quick filters to help users find colleagues quickly and accurately.

  • Manage placeholders and messages – customize search box text and “no results” messages to guide users and provide a polished experience.

  • Encourage presence use – display presence information to help users decide the best way to connect via Microsoft Teams, email, or call.

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