Establish what is happening
Capture the result evidence
Record query, result title, matched field, excerpt text, highlight, destination, and viewport. Include a result with a useful context and one where the match is buried. Keep the original result order for later comparison.
Separate match from meaning
Ask whether the snippet proves why the result belongs or only repeats the query term. Compare titles, metadata, neighboring words, and destination headings. Treat a missing excerpt as a context problem until ranking evidence shows the result itself is wrong.
Set the snippet boundary
Name essential context, safe truncation, highlighting, and mobile behavior. Preserve examples that need a different field or content type. Stop when a reviewer can say what a person needs to choose without prescribing a universal excerpt length.
What to carry forward
The triage output is a snippet boundary with query, match, context, layout, and destination evidence. Stop when relevance and context gaps are distinct. If the destination cannot support a useful excerpt, record that limitation rather than inventing one in the result row.
Technical background: Digital.gov guidance.
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