Search only helps if it finds the thing

A search box is the feature everybody uses and nobody configures, and the gap between a good one and a poor one is enormous.

The measure is simple: does the person find what they came for, on the first attempt, using what they happen to remember.

People search for fragments, not names

A phone number, a street, an invoice amount, half a surname: those are what somebody holds when they reach for a search box.

A search reading only the record's title misses every one of them and sends the person browsing a list instead.

Decide which fields search should read

Every field is not the answer, because a search over free text notes returns noise that buries the real match.

The identifying fields are: name, reference number, phone, email, address and whatever number a customer quotes on the phone.

A reference number needs finding either way

Somebody typing the digits without the prefix, or with a space in the wrong place, is looking for the same record.

A search that only matches the exact stored format fails the most common way anybody uses a reference number.

Each result needs its source on the line

A list of names with no context makes somebody open three records to find out which one they wanted.

Showing the type and a distinguishing detail beside each result answers that without any of those clicks.

Recent and relevant beat alphabetical

A search matching forty records should put the ones somebody touched this week first, because that is usually the intention.

Alphabetical order is only right when somebody is genuinely browsing, and a search box means they are not.

Include the archive, and say so

A person searching for a customer who left two years ago should find them, marked as archived, rather than finding nothing.

Nothing at all is the result most likely to make somebody create a duplicate record, which is the expensive outcome.

Searching for a setting is a different problem

Somebody looking for a switch does not know the page it lives on, and it is not the name of anything.

A search covering settings by the words people use, rather than by the label on the screen, is what makes that findable.

Results must respect permissions

A search result revealing a matter somebody cannot open tells them it exists, which may itself be confidential.

The search has to apply the same rules as the record list, so a result appears only where the person could have reached it anyway.

Empty results need to say something useful

A blank panel is indistinguishable from a broken search, and somebody who sees it assumes the system lost their record.

A line saying nothing matched, with the term repeated back, turns that into a spelling check rather than a support call.

Speed is part of whether people use it

A search taking three seconds gets abandoned in favour of scrolling a list, whatever the quality of its results.

Our guide to working from the phone covers why that matters most on site, where the connection is worst.

Watch what people search for and do not find

Terms that return nothing are the most useful feedback any system produces, and almost nobody looks at them.

They usually describe a field search does not read yet, which is a short fix with a large effect.

What to change first

• A search reads phone, email, address and reference number, not only the name
• A reference number matches with or without its prefix and spacing
• Each result shows its type and a distinguishing detail
• Recently touched records rank first
• Archived records appear, clearly marked
• Results apply the same permissions as the record list
• Searches returning nothing get reviewed for the missing field