Currently, the search results may list multiple instances of the same item (i.e. feature) on the search details page. This occurs when searching for text and that text is included in multiple fields on the item.
As an example, "allergies" is entered in the summary field and the description field of a feature. When I search for "allergies" the same feature will be listed twice in the search results. This causes the search results to become clogged, clunky, and, at times, useless. A considerable amount of time is spent scanning the search results only to find out I've scanned the same issue multiple times.
The improvement is to allow the user to check a box on the search results details page which will then reduce the number of items in the search results to only display 1 instance per unique item (or uncheck to show all matches). In my above example, 1 instance would show for the feature, not two when checked.
Additionally, there should be a user preference setting where the user can choose to have the search results default to "All matches" or "Limited to one instance" so that users like myself who only want to see one instance of an item in the search results don't have to check a box on the search results details page every time.
The status of this idea was out of date. The global search will now only list each record once.