Filter, Search and Sort

These have to make sense to users
They have to meet user expectations and match their "Mental Map" which is their model of how the world should work
You need to understand the customer to implement these well

Quick Wins / Lessons Learned

Make it obvious when we update lists of results
There have been several systems that updated so quickly that people thought they had done nothing.
In these instances it has been necessary to put a visual cue to make the user aware of the page having updated.
Be Very Clear about how the Search , Sort or Filter works

Search can adhere to several logical models.
It is usually Not Clear to users which one we are following BUT they will assume one of them anyway.
These Models at the highest level, include:
- Open Ended Single Word search
  (The word is found somewhere in the contentsTitle, Text or Metadata)
- Open Ended Multi Word search
  (Any of the words are found in the contents Title, Text or Metadata
- Specific Phrase search
  (The exact phrase is found somewhere in the contentsTitle, Text or Metadata)
They then can be subdivided into only looking for these words or phrases within:
- Title Only
- Text Only
- Metadata Only
- Any combination of these
They can also act as a:
- Filter
  This is EXCLUSIVE
  All results are shown until they are EXCLUDED by the search
- Search
  This is ADDITIVE
  No results are shown untill they are ADDED by the search
There are many other subtle variations but the most often encountered is:
- Some searches need every word in a phrase to be found
- Other searches need any single word from the phrase in order to return a result

All this detail is given to let you know just how many Mental Models users might have.