Segment Builder UI guide

Segment Builder provides a rich workspace that allows you to interact with Profile data elements. The workspace provides intuitive controls for building and editing rules, such as drag-and-drop tiles used to represent data properties.

Segment definition building blocks building-blocks

The basic building blocks of segment definitions are attributes and events. In addition, the attributes and events contained in existing audiences can be used as components for new definitions.

You can see these building blocks in the Fields section on the left side of the Segment Builder workspace. Fields contains a tab for each of the main building blocks: “Attributes”, “Events”, and “Audiences”.

Attributes

The Attributes tab allows you to browse Profile attributes belonging to the XDM Individual Profile class. Each folder can be expanded to reveal additional attributes, where each attribute is a tile that can be dragged onto the rule builder canvas in the center of the workspace. The rule builder canvas is discussed in more detail later in this guide.

Events

The Events tab allows you to create an audience based on events or actions that took place using XDM ExperienceEvent data elements. You can also find Event Types on the Events tab, which are a collection of commonly used events to enable you to create your segment definitions more quickly.

In addition to being able to browse for ExperienceEvent elements, you can also search for Event Types. Event Types use the same coding logic as ExperienceEvents, without requiring you to search through the XDM ExperienceEvent class looking for the correct event. For example, using the search bar to search “cart” returns the Event Types “AddCart” and “RemoveCart”, which are two very commonly used cart actions when building segment definitions.

Any type of component can be searched for by typing its name in the search bar, which uses Lucene’s search syntax. The search results begin to populate as entire words are entered. For example, to build a rule based on the XDM field ExperienceEvent.commerce.productViews, start typing “product views” in the search field. Once the word “product” has been typed, search results begin to appear. Each result includes the object hierarchy to which it belongs.

You can then easily drag and drop ExperienceEvents and “Event Types” into your segment definition.

By default, only populated schema fields from your data store are shown. This includes “Event Types”. If the “Event Types” list is not visible, or you are only able to select “Any” as an “Event Type”, select the gear icon next to Fields, then select Show full XDM schema under Available Fields. Select the gear icon again to return to the Fields tab and you should now be able to view multiple “Event Types” and schema fields, regardless of whether they contain data or not.

Adobe Analytics report suite datasets

You can use data from either a single or multiple Adobe Analytics report suites as events within segmentation.

When using data from a single Analytics report suite, Platform will automatically add descriptors and friendly names to eVars, making it easier to find those fields within Segment Builder.

When using data from multiple Analytics report suites, Platform cannot automatically add descriptors or friendly names to eVars. As a result, before using the data from Analytics report suites, you must map to XDM fields. More information about mapping Analytics variables to XDM can be found in the Adobe Analytics source connection guide.

For example, consider a situation where you had two report suites with the following variables:

In this case, you could map the two report suites with the following schema:

Once the report suites have been mapped, you can use these newly mapped fields within your Profile-related workflows and segmentation.

Audiences

The Audiences tab lists all audiences imported from external sources, such as Adobe Audience Manager or Customer Journey Analytics, as well as audiences created within Experience Platform.

On the Audiences tab, you can see all of the available sources as a group of folders. As you select the folders, available sub-folders and audiences can be seen. Additionally, you can select the folder icon (as shown in the far-right image) in order to view the folder structure (a check mark denotes the folder you are currently in) and easily navigate back through folders by selecting the name of a folder in the tree.

You can hover over the ⓘ next to an audience to view information about the audience including its ID, description, and the folder hierarchy to locate the audience.

Rule builder canvas rule-builder-canvas

A segment definition is a collection of rules used to describe key characteristics or behavior of a target audience. These rules are created using the rule builder canvas, located in the center of Segment Builder.

To add a new rule to your segment definition, drag a tile from the Fields tab and drop it onto the rule builder canvas. You will then be presented with context-specific options according to the type of data being added. Available data types include: strings, dates, ExperienceEvents, “Event Types”, and audiences.

When selecting a value for the attribute, you will see a list of enum values that the attribute can be.

If selecting a value from this list of enums, the value will be outlined with a solid border. However, for fields that use meta:enum (soft) enums, you can also select a value which is not from the list of enums. If you create your own value, it will be outlined with a dotted border, along with a warning that this value is not in the enum list.

If you are creating multiple values, you can add all of them at once by using the bulk upload. Select the to show the Add values in bulk popover.

On the Add values in bulk popover, you can upload a CSV or TSV file.

Alternatively, you can manually add comma separated values.

Please note that there is a maximum of 250 values allowed. If you exceed this amount, you will need to remove some values before adding more.

Adding audiences

You can drag and drop an audience from the Audience tab onto the rule builder canvas to reference audience membership in the new segment definition. This allows you to include or exclude audience membership as an attribute in the new segment definition rules.

For Platform audiences created using Segment Builder, you are given the option to convert the audience into the set of rules that were used in the segment definition for that audience. This conversion makes a copy of the rule logic, that can then be modified without affecting the original segment definition. Make sure that you have saved any recent changes to your segment definition before converting it to rule logic.

If any conflicts arise when convert audiences to rules, Segment Builder will attempt to preserve the existing options to the best of its ability.

Code view

Alternatively, you can view a code-based version of a rule created in the Segment Builder. Once you have created your rule within the rule builder canvas, you can select Code view to see your segment definition as PQL.

Code view provides a button that allows you to copy the value of the segment definition to use in API calls. To get the latest version of the segment definition, make sure you have saved your latest changes to the segment definition.

Aggregation functions

An aggregation in Segment Builder is a calculation on a group of XDM attributes whose data type is a number (either a double or an integer). The four supported aggregation functions within Segment Builder are SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, and MAX.

To create an aggregation function, select an event from the left rail, and insert it into the Events container.

After placing the event within the Events container, select the ellipses icon (…), followed by Aggregate.

The aggregation is now added. You can now select the aggregation function, choose what attribute to aggregate, the equality function, as well as the value. For the example below, this segment definition would qualify any profile that has a sum of purchased values that is greater than $100, even if each individual purchase is less than $100.

Count functions count-functions

Count functions in Segment Builder are used to look for specified events and count the number of times they’re done. The supported count functions in Segment Builder are “At least”, “At most”, “Exactly”, “Between”, and “All”.

To create a count function, select an event from the left rail and insert it into the Events container.

After placing the event within the Events container, select the At least 1 button.

The count function is now added. You can now select the count function and the value of the function. The example below would be to include any event that has at least one click.

Time constraints time-constraints

Time constraints let you apply time restrictions on time-based attributes, events, and the sequence between the events.

The list of available time constraints are as follows:

Available time constraints

note note
NOTE
All time constraints are based off of UTC.
Additionally, if the Ignore year checkbox is enabled, the year will not be compared as part of the segment definition evaluation.

table 0-row-4 1-row-4 2-row-4 3-row-4 4-row-4 5-row-4 6-row-4 7-row-4 8-row-4 9-row-4 10-row-4 11-row-4 12-row-4 13-row-4 14-row-4 15-row-4
Time constraint	Description	Can enable ignore year	Example
Today	The attribute or event being compared must occur today.	Yes	{width="100" modal="regular"}
Yesterday	The attribute or event being compared must occur yesterday.	Yes	{width="100" modal="regular"}
This month	The attribute or event being compared must occur this calendar month.	Yes	{width="100" modal="regular"}
This year	The attribute or event being compared must occur this calendar year.	No	{width="100" modal="regular"}
Custom date	The attribute or event being compared must occur on the date given.	Yes	{width="100" modal="regular"}
In last	The attribute or event being compared must occur within the last period of time chosen. This period of time is inclusive until the evaluation time.	No	{width="100" modal="regular"}
From (to)	The attribute or event being compared must occur within the two calendar dates chosen. This period of time is inclusive of both dates.	Yes, if custom date	{width="100" modal="regular"}
During	The attribute or event being compared must occur within the selected month or year. If a month is selected, you need to choose both the month and a year that the attribute or event took place in. If a year is selected, you need to just choose the year that the attribute or event took place in. If you select a month, you can also enable the Ignore year checkbox.	Yes	{width="100" modal="regular"}
Within (+/-)	The attribute or event being compared must occur within days, weeks, months, or years of the selected date. This period of time is inclusive of both dates. The selected date can be today, yesterday, or another custom date of your choosing.	Yes	{width="100" modal="regular"}
Before	The attribute or event being compared must occur before the selected date. The selected date can be a custom date of your choosing, or a selection between days, weeks, months, or years ago.	Yes	{width="100" modal="regular"}
After	The attribute or event being compared must occur after the selected date. The selected date can be a custom date of your choosing, or a selection between days, weeks, months, or years ago.	Yes	{width="100" modal="regular"}
Rolling range	The attribute or event being compared must occur between the two relative dates. The dates can be represented in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years.	No	{width="100" modal="regular"}
In next	The attribute or event being compared must occur within the next period of time selected. The selected periods of time include minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.	No	{width="100" modal="regular"}
Exists	The attribute exists.	No	{width="100" modal="regular"}
Does not exist	The attribute does not exist.	No	{width="100" modal="regular"}

When you’re applying a time constraint on an event, you can either apply it on the canvas-level, the card-level, or between events.

Canvas-level constraint

To apply a canvas-level time constraint, select the clock icon that appears above the timeline of events.

When you apply a time constraint on the canvas-level, this applies the time constraint to all events in the audience.

Card-level constraint

To apply a card-level constraint, select the card you want to apply the time constraint on, followed by the ellipses icon, and Apply time rule. This lets you select a time constraint within the Event Rules container.

When you apply a time constraint on the card-level, this applies the time constraint on the specified event in the audience.

Between events constraint

To apply a time constraint between events, select the clock icon between the two events you want to apply the time constraint on.

When you apply a time constraint between the event, this applies the time constraint to the time between the events.

The list of available time constraints for this operation differs from the main list of time constraints, and are as follows:

Containers

Segment rules are evaluated in the order they are listed. Containers allow control over the order of execution through the use of nested queries.

Once you have added at least one tile to the rule builder canvas, you can begin to add containers. To create a new container, select the ellipses (…) in the top-right corner of the tile, then select Add container.

A new container appears as the child of the first container, but you can adjust the hierarchy by dragging and moving the containers. The default behavior of a container is to “Include” the attribute, event, or audience provided. You can set the rule to “Exclude” profiles that match the container criteria by selecting Include in the top-left corner of the tile and selecting “Exclude”.

A child container can also be extracted and added inline to the parent container by selecting “unwrap container” on the child container. Select the ellipses (…) in the top-right corner of the child container to access this option.

Once you select Unwrap container the child container is removed and the criteria appear inline.

Merge policies

Experience Platform enables you to bring data together from multiple sources and combine it in order to see a complete view of each of your individual customers. When bringing this data together, merge policies are the rules that Platform uses to determine how data will be prioritized and what data will be combined to create a profile.

You can select a merge policy that matches your marketing purpose for this audience or use the default merge policy provided by Platform. You can create multiple merge policies unique to your organization, including creating your own default merge policy. For step-by-step instructions on creating merge policies for your organization, please begin by reading the merge policies overview.

To select a merge policy for your segment definition, select the gear icon on the Fields tab, then use the Merge Policy dropdown menu to select the merge policy that you wish to use.

Segment definition properties segment-properties

When building a segment definition, the Audience properties section on the right-hand side of the workspace displays an estimate of the size of the resulting segment definition, allowing you to adjust your segment definition as needed before building the audience itself.

Qualified Profiles indicates the actual number of profiles that match the segment definition’s rules. This number updates every 24 hours, after the segment evaluation job has ran.

The timestamp for qualified profiles indicates the most recent batch segment evaluation job and is not displayed for segment definitions evaluated using streaming or edge segmentation. If you edit the segment definition, the number of qualified profiles will remain the same until the next segment evaluation job is run.

Estimated Profiles indicates an approximate number of profiles based off of the sample job. You can see an updated version of this value after adding the new rules or conditions and selecting Refresh estimate. Selecting the information bubble gives the error threshold and most recent sample job time.

The Audience properties section is also where you can specify important information about your segment definition, including its name, description, and evaluation type. Segment definition names are used to identify your segment definition among those defined by your organization and should therefore be descriptive, concise, and unique.

As you continue to build your segment definition, you can view a paginated preview of the audience by selecting View Profiles.

You can also select your evaluation method. If you know what evaluation method you want to use, you can select the desired evaluation method either using the dropdown list. If you want to know what evaluation types this segment definition qualifies for, you can select the browse icon to see a list of the available segment definition evaluation methods.

The Evaluation method eligibility popover appears. This popover displays the available evaluation methods, which are batch, streaming, and edge. The popover shows which evaluation methods are eligible and ineligible. Depending on the parameters you used in your segment definition, it may not qualify for certain evaluation methods. For more information on the requirements for each evaluation method, please read the streaming segmentation or the edge segmentation overviews.

You can also change the evaluation method of the segment definition after you’ve finished creating it. If you change the evaluation method from Edge or Streaming to Batch, you will not be able to change it back to Edge or Streaming. The change to the evaluation method will only take effect once you select Save in the popover. Cancelling the dialog will maintain the original evaluation method.

If you select an invalid evaluation method, you will be prompted to either change your segment definition rules or change the evaluation method.

More information about the different segment definition evaluation methods can be found in the segmentation overview.

Next steps next-steps

Segment Builder provides a rich workflow allowing you to isolate marketable audiences from Real-Time Customer Profile data. After reading this guide you should now be able to:

To learn more about Segmentation Service, please continue reading the documentation and supplement your learning by watching the related videos. To learn more about the other parts of the Segmentation Service UI, please read the Segmentation Service user guide