Search and filtering brief
Define how users retrieve and refine relevant results across a known and permission-aware content corpus.
Product features · 45 min · Advanced · 25 questions
Searchable content
What content can users search?
Which parts of that content should match a query?
Which related content should search retrieve?
Which historical state should remain searchable?
Which high-frequency search intent must the experience support?
Which query form must the experience support?
Ranking and freshness
Which signals should determine result ranking?
When should an exact match outrank a recent result?
How should source authority affect ranking?
When may personalization affect ranking?
How quickly must changed content appear in search?
How quickly must deleted content disappear?
How quickly must permission changes affect results?
Filters
Does each filter include or exclude matching results?
How do multiple selected filters combine?
How can users reset all filters?
Access and privacy
How will indexing enforce permissions?
How will suggestions enforce permissions?
How will result counts avoid revealing restricted content?
Search recovery
How should users recover from a misspelled query?
How should users recover from overly narrow filters?
How should search explain unavailable content?
Quality and performance
Which query set will validate relevance?
How will reviewers judge result relevance?
What is the search latency target?
How to use this brief
Use this brief as a bank of questions for the conversation. Choose what is relevant, mark covered questions as you go, and skip anything that has already been answered.
Use this brief when...
Use when you need to define how users retrieve and refine relevant results across a known and permission-aware content corpus.
Best used as: Live call · Async intake
- Category
- Product features
- Discussion time
- 45 minutes
- Depth
- Advanced
- Last updated
- Jul 21, 2026
- Scope
- Design briefs
- Best used as
- Live callAsync intake
- Design roles
- Product designer
- Audience
- Product designersProduct managersUX and UI designersDesign leads
- Platforms
- WebMobile
- Company type
- B2BB2CEnterprise
- Product stage
- GrowthMature product
- Tags
- product-featuressearch-and-filteringsystems-and-platformscontent-retrievallarge-datasetsoperational-findability