Helping users find their own data.
WHY IT MATTERS MORE AS ACCOUNTS GROW
Navigation works at small volumes and fails at large ones.
WHAT TO MAKE SEARCHABLE
Everything a user might look for by name or content.
WHAT TO ENFORCE ABSOLUTELY
Results scoped to the user's permissions.
WHY
Search is the commonest route by which hidden data becomes visible.
WHAT TO TEST
Searching as a restricted user for content they should not see.
WHAT MAKES SEARCH USEFUL
Partial matches Tolerance of misspelling Recent and relevant results first Filters
WHAT TO AVOID
Requiring exact terms Results with no context Slow search, which is abandoned
WHAT INDEXING REQUIRES
Updating when content changes Removing when content is deleted
WHY DELETION SPECIFICALLY
Stale index entries expose removed content, which is a breach.
WHAT TO MONITOR
Searches returning nothing.
WHAT THAT REVEALS
Terms users expect that you do not support, and content they cannot find.
WHAT TO BUILD WHEN VOLUME GROWS
A dedicated search service, rather than database queries.
WHEN
When search becomes slow, not before.
WHAT TO PROVIDE
Keyboard access to search, from anywhere.
