Q: What impact does setting a default view have on my ability to see worklist items?

The ability to see worklist items depends on what filters have been applied to the view. If a particular view is defaulted then only the filtered items will be seen with that view. For example, when working a verify result from the task list if a users default worklist view is "Order management", the user will not see any results that require verification in that view because the view is filtered to only show items related to orders. The user would need to change to a view that has "requires verification" as a filter in order to see those results.