Automatically selecting a facet the user didn't click is not really possible in the current technical design, but more importantly has UX/IxD implications we need to work out - e.g.
- When the user selects a facet the page URL updates so you can link to a filtered list - how does this affect that? Do they get the URL with or without the automatically selected option?
- What happens if the user follows a link to the page that's filtered by ATAR range? Do we redirect to one that's filtered by atar and no atar or respect the original url?
- What if the user a) selects a range (+ the auto item they did not select), deselects the auto item, deselects the range, then selects the range again? Does this only happen the first time, or all subsequent times?
- What if in the above scenario the user selects a different range at the last step? Do we add the auto item then or only the first time?
- What if the user selects multiple ATAR ranges? Does the automatically selected item stay selected until they deselect it?
- Will the user understand why this item is automatically selected for them?
I think we can look at this as an enhancement but as it changes the mental model of how faceted results operate we need to design carefully around it.