Establish what is happening
Collect paired terms
Place the customer phrase beside the catalog term, query context, result set, and reformulation. Include abbreviations, regional spellings, and product-family names. Keep a zero-result example and a successful literal example so the gap is not defined by failure alone.
Check meaning and overlap
Ask whether the terms describe the same product, a variant, or a neighboring concept. Compare returned products, category membership, and click outcomes. If only one segment uses the alternate term, record the locale or audience boundary instead of generalizing.
Write exclusions
Propose a bounded candidate with examples that should match and phrases that must remain separate. Note confidence and missing context. Do not recommend a global synonym when the evidence only supports one category, locale, or product family.
What to carry forward
The triage output is a synonym candidate with paired examples, expected result overlap, scope, and exclusions. Stop when the team can explain why the terms are equivalent in the selected context. If meanings remain uncertain, keep literal behavior and request one discriminating example.
Technical background: GOV.UK developer documentation.
Keep the decision with the work.
Use a Work Item in Aglet to record the problem, the evidence you have, and the next decision. Add an owner and priority, then keep updates in the discussion so the next person can follow the reasoning.
Create an account See the product workflow