R2 — Skip faceted search when the inventory is small (~under 200 items), stable, and shallow; a static list is fine

Rule: Recommend a static list / simple category page (NOT a faceted catalogue) when:

1. Inventory is small (commonly cited as under ~200 items / a few dozen pages).
2. Inventory is stable (rarely changes).
3. Inventory is shallow (few attributes anyone would meaningfully filter by).

Why: Three independent search-software vendors converge on this threshold against their own commercial interest: HawkSearch (vendor — concedes against interest) — for catalogs of "just a few dozen products," basic search and navigation are adequate, Prefixbox (vendor — faceted-search software, concedes against interest) — skip faceted search if catalog <200 products; implementation cost outweighs UX value, Luigi's Box (vendor) — independently corroborates the skip cutoff: "smaller catalogs with only a few hundred products may not require this level of complexity". NN/g warns that vocabulary/metadata maintenance "consume significant financial and human resources" (Nielsen Norman Group — faceted navigation adds interaction cost and vocabulary/metadata maintenance "consumes significant financial and human resources") and that faceted UI itself adds interaction cost.

How to apply:

• The 200-item number is a rule of thumb, not a validated cutoff — use as a prompt to consider skipping, not a hard rule.
• The skip recommendation is most defensible when ALL THREE conditions (small + stable + shallow) are true.
• Pair with R1 — Build a searchable, structured catalogue when records are numerous, change often, or carry several independent queryable attributes for the do-build side.