The problem
How do you search 1400 fields when 400 was already overwhelming?
A materials search application was being integrated with 1,000 new data fields to serve multiple departments. Without intervention, this increase would compound existing search problems and make the system unusable.
What was built
An intent-driven query builder, regaining user confidence.
How it was designed
Our customers didn't trust the current search experience and the results.
Despite a powerful backend, users frequently double-checked results or avoided advanced search altogether. While technically accurate, the system lacked transparency and alignment with users' search behaviors.
Cross-functional interviews with 20+ users helped uncover where trust eroded and clarified which search capabilities were essential to include in the MVP.
Validation workshop, iterating & testing
Exploring product direction before committing to a full redesign.
Stakeholders were confident in the persona-based solution. User interviews suggested otherwise, and we needed evidence, not opinions, to change the roadmap.
Critical questions:
Do users search within role boundaries, or do they need flexibility?
What level of flexibility and control over their search queries?
From this concept testing and query building workshop, we discovered that simplicity does not equal fewer options. Users wanted powerful logic, but expressed it visually and progressively.
Testing and design decisions
Converging on interaction patterns that preserve control at the point of decision.
Users wanted early visibility into results, the ability to refine intent after seeing data, and confidence that the system was responding exactly to their inputs. Linear search flows broke this mental model and reduced trust.
Design decision
Enable users to edit, refine, and take action on queries directly from the results page, without restarting the flow.
The Design Experience
The system evolved from rigid filters to an intent-driven search experience that balances flexibility, transparency, and control, without enforcing roles.
An advanced search experience that adapts to how users think, refine, and decide.
Intent-driven entry point
Users can build multi-attribute queries using:
AND / OR logic.
Expanded operators (range, null, partial matches)
This allows users to start broad, refine progressively, and stay in control of precision.
Save queries and Shareable templates
Users can save complex queries and reuse or share them as templates, reducing repetitive work and ensuring consistency across workflows.
Traceability and transparency in results
Clear visibility into unmatched results and searched fields, turning results from a guessing game into a verifiable iterative process.
In-search editing
Users can edit, duplicate, or refine queries directly within search without losing context or navigating away.
Customizable data views and enhanced results
Different tasks required different result layouts
Simplified the manage column experience
Introduced Search field chips to customize the query
Impact
Redirected the product strategy, preventing 6 months of investment in a persona-based model that wouldn't have solved the real problem.
Reduced search friction: Users moved from multi-step, trial-and-error searches to a single composable query builder with inline feedback.
Increased trust in results: Visibility into matched/unmatched values eliminated manual verification for most searches.
Established a design precedent: The intent-driven framework now informs how the team approaches search across other products.
This project reaffirmed the importance of evidence over assumption; that even well-intentioned business goals need validation through user behavior.
Guiding the team through this shift taught me how to balance between organizational priorities and user realities, while keeping the design grounded in clarity and purpose.
Designing a technically complex system with intuitive usability demanded strategic prioritization, iterative testing, and close collaboration with data and engineering partners.
Most importantly, it reinforced my belief that impactful design isn’t about adding capabilities, but about reducing complexity so users can focus on what truly matters.