Techniques are described for polymorph rendering of objects in a collaborative platform and/or other environments, through which the same object is presented differently in the user interface depending on which perspective is being used to render the object. In some implementations, the platform supports multiple renderers and each renderer is associated with a particular perspective. Polymorph rendering may also be described as adaptive rendering, given that the presentation of an object may be adapted to the particular accessors of a work routine, and such adaptation is achieved through use of different renderers to render the object according to different perspectives. A particular renderer can be written once and added to the platform, and that renderer may be applied to a variety of objects. Tools may also be rendered according to various perspectives, given that tools also support the normalized object contract and at least expose the mandatory perspectives.