Establish what is happening
Capture the empty state
Record phrase, scope, category, filters, result count, facets, and visible actions. Include a query with no matching inventory and a query emptied by one filter. Keep the original URL or request so the state can be replayed.
Classify the cause
Compare vocabulary, category, availability, indexing, and filter intersections. Check whether near matches or broader results exist. Treat a potential ranking or data issue as a hypothesis; an empty list alone cannot prove why retrieval stopped.
Set recovery scope
Name whether the useful next step is remove a filter, broaden a category, change wording, or review inventory. Preserve a true empty case and any misleading suggestion. Stop when each state has a truthful explanation or an explicit unknown.
What to carry forward
The triage output classifies the empty state and names a recovery boundary, with the query and filters preserved. Stop when a reviewer can distinguish hard zero from filtered zero. If scope or data evidence is missing, keep the empty state provisional rather than promising an alternative.
Technical background: W3C 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