Improve Customer Search Tolerance for Names With or Without Middle Names/Initials

Problem Statement

When searching for a customer using first and last name, the search results do not appear if the customer record includes a middle name or initial, unless the user enters the name exactly as stored.
This makes it difficult for support, fulfillment, and operations teams to locate customers efficiently — especially when users do not know whether a middle name or initial exists in the profile.

User Story

As a staff user searching for a customer
I want the Customer Search tool to return results even when I don’t enter a middle name or special character
So that I can reliably find customers without needing exact formatting or guesswork.

Definition of Done (DoD)

Scope

• Improve search logic so that middle names and initials do not block matches when searching by first and last name.

• Searching for:

  • “John Smith” should return customers listed as:

    • “John A. Smith”

    • “John Adam Smith”

    • “John Smith”

• Introduce an optional field for middle name in the customer profile (not required to search but available if used).

• Do not make any search fields mandatory.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Flexible Matching

   • A customer appears in results when the user enters first + last name, regardless of whether the stored record includes a middle name or initial.

2. Partial-Name Acceptance

   • Search should return results if the user only enters part of the name (e.g., “John Smi”), consistent with current fuzzy behavior.

3. Middle Name Field (Optional)

   • Middle name can be stored if provided.

   • Search does not require it.

4. No New Mandatory Fields

   • All search fields remain optional.

   • Users can search by any combination of first / last / email / etc.

5. UI Behavior

   • Customer Search results load normally without requiring exact match formatting.

   • No changes to the existing search interface beyond improved matching logic.

6. Testing

   • QA verifies searches for customers with:

     • No middle name

     • Middle initial

     • Full middle name

   • All return expected results when searching by first + last.