Adobe Employee

I am Brian Au, Analytics Consultant at Adobe. AMA on Navigating the Learning Path of CJA.

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
October 25, 2023
9 replies
7628 views

November 14th, 2023

We’re happy to welcome Brian Au, Analytics and CJA Consultant at Adobe for an AMA session about Navigating the Learning Path of Adobe Customer Journey Analytics.

Our guest expert, Brian is a Principal Business Consultant with over 15 years of experience in developing innovative solutions for complex problems. He has a keen eye for detail, and his expertise in designing scalable and efficient systems has led to significant improvements in performance and user experience. Brian is known for his strong communication skills and ability to work effectively in fast-paced, dynamic environments. He has worked on a wide range of projects across various industries, including retail, tech, media, entertainment, and logistics.

How this AMA works:

This thread will open on Tuesday, November 14, for you to start submitting your questions.
Reply to this post with any questions you have for our expert, Brian. He will reply to as many of your questions as possible.
After the AMA is over, the thread will be locked for new replies, but it will remain visible as a resource.

seanrobinson

Author

Adobe Employee

Hello everyone! This is the space that you'll be asking @brianau1 your questions. Just hit the grey Reply button at the bottom of the thread and ask your questions. We're excited to be working with you!

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blake-e

Hi, Brian and team! We're excited about the freedom that the new XDM model affords us, and we're finally getting away from the classic props and eVars. That said, we have a user community that is used to that old solution design. Do you have any tips for migrating from an old SDR to a more freeform schema?

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BrianAu1

Adobe Employee

Hi @blake-e ,

Migrating from an old AA Solution Design Reference (SDR) to a more freeform XDM schema can be an exciting and transformative process. Here are some tips to help you navigate this transition smoothly:

Event-driven data modeling: Embrace the concept of event-driven data modeling as it allows you to design your schema around meaningful events rather than being constrained by predefined custom traffic variables (props), customer conversion variables (eVars), and custom events.
Leveraging XDM and Customer Journey Analytics: Take advantage of the power and flexibility offered by the Experience Data Model (XDM) and Customer Journey Analytics. This is an opportunity to rethink and rebuild your underlying framework event data model from scratch.
Start with your existing base data layer: Consider your existing data layer as a starting point for your new schema. This will provide a familiar foundation and ensure a smooth transition for your user community.
Review XDM templates: Explore the XDM templates provided by Adobe for different industry examples. These templates can serve as a valuable resource for guidance and inspiration as you ideate and design your new schema.
Focus on modularity and flexibility: Aim to create a modular and flexible event data model that can serve as the foundation for all your data systems. This will enable you to leverage the unique capabilities of Customer Journey Analytics and the openness and flexibility of XDM.

Best,

Brian

A

araza1

Do we know of a best practice in CJA to observe a time/ date for external data appended or joined?

Right now, uploading a table of external data monthly does not tie to a time or date range (ie it's static), and we haven't found a straightforward way for CJA to 'remember' or date stamp upon upload.

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BrianAu1

Adobe Employee

Hi, Can you please clarify the type of data in question for this use case? Are you referring to Lookup data updates perhaps or a specific event-based monthly upload process? In the case of CJA the only way timestamped data really comes into play is with even datasets given current product functionality. Here is how CJA unions event (timestamp-based) datasets: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/analytics-platform/using/cja-connections/combined-dataset.html?lang=en

A

araza1

This scenario is for a lookup data set that's uploaded monthly. Ideally we'd like it to apply to all events during that month/ time period until the next upload

C

cp_btripple

Level 1

is there a meeting link?

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BrianAu1

Adobe Employee

Hi @cp_btripple , The event is over forum Q&A so you are in the right spot and can ask questions directly here in this event space.

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cp_btripple

Level 1

Thanks.

williamh3207805

Level 2

Hello @brianau1 !

In CJA, what is the quickest way to replicate the AA Classification Rule Builder?
Specifically, interested in a CJA way to split a source dimension into multiple classification dimensions based on a text delimiter.
For example, a way to do this:

eVar1: main:detail:super detail
to
classification1: main
classification2: detail
classification 3: super detail

Thanks in advance for taking a look.

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BrianAu1

Adobe Employee

Hi @williamh3207805 ,

In CJA be sure to check out the substring manipulation options at a component level for this type of operation https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/analytics-platform/using/cja-dataviews/component-settings/substring.html?lang=en & also Derived Fields functionality https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/analytics-platform/using/cja-dataviews/derived-fields.html?lang=en.

Best,

Brian

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cp_btripple

Level 1

Any strategies for planning an XDM structure for larger organizations that have multiple business units where there is some overlap but for the most part they are fairly autonomous? Can you create multiple Time series Experience Event classes (one per BU), but both share common field sets for global standards?

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BrianAu1

Adobe Employee

Hi @cp_btripple, I can envision a scenario where you have a common base global event XDM data structure across business units (BUs), but each BU has its own unique XDM augmentations that are not shared. The level of required integration or separation required for end reporting/analysis will determine how and where you are able to combine these structures. It is important to be aware of any hard data model conflicts that may arise across the BUs as well.

Best,

Brian

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cp_btripple

Level 1

Any strategies for Adobe Launch (Tags) configuration when setting your xdm object, seems that it's not very flexible and requires custom code vs. native SDK Extension rule actions. For example, it seems you need to create an xdm data element for each rule or go the custom code route.

C

cp_btripple

Level 1

What's the optimal method to document a Schema in comparison to the AA SDR? Any basic templates in the wild?

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BrianAu1

Adobe Employee

Hi @cp_btripple ,

I am not aware of any CJA SDR templates available. However, I believe that CJA would be similar to the AA SDR format and could include the following:

CJA Connection Datasets Review
CJA Data Views Review
CJA Identity Handling Review
CJA Metric Components (Component Name, Source, Data Source Type, Schema Data Type, Schema Path, Description)
CJA Dimension Components (Component Name, Source, Data Source Type, Schema Data Type, Schema Path, Description)

Best,

Brian

jc608

Level 3

Can you help us understand how Adobe Analytics may process Absolute and Relative links from a connected AEM site differently? (example: if an absolute link is used, and a visitor clicks on it does it create an 'exit' and and a new 'entry'??)

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BrianAu1

Adobe Employee

Hi @jc608 , For this case do you mean trying to account for how 'exit' and 'entry' will be tracked on a given AEM link basis absolute vs relative? To my understanding absolute Analytics will treat it as an exit link https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/analytics/components/dimensions/exit-link.html?lang=en & when a visitor clicks on a relative link, Adobe Analytics will treat it as an internal link so no exit tracking associated. Entries are more a function of counting first value in a visit https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/analytics/components/metrics/entries.html?lang=en in Adobe Analytics.

(example: if an absolute link is used, and a visitor clicks on it does it create an 'exit' and and a new 'entry'??)

Best,

Brian

jc608

Level 3

Hi Brian -

Thank you very much! I appreciate the response and the links to reference in Experience League.

Jodi

Josh Stephens

Community Advisor

Hi @brianau1 - what's the best way to replicate complex classification rulesets. In AA for example, there are some rulesets with several rules for one classified dimension

In a hypothetical example, if the string contains "shoes", the RegExp rule is different than if it contains "hat", "shirt", "pants". In AA, these rules can all be stacked on each other and only fire when there's a match. In CJA, what's the best way to replicate this functionality with the flexibility allowed in AA rulesets?

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BrianAu1

Adobe Employee

Hi @josh__stephens ,

At this time, there is no direct replacement for Classification Rule Builder in CJA. The closest functionality would be using component substring manipulation https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/analytics-platform/using/cja-dataviews/component-settings/substring.html?lang=en for simple cases, or utilizing CJA Derived Fields https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/analytics-platform/using/cja-dataviews/derived-fields.html?lang=en#regex-replace which now supports Regex. However, depending on the complexities and depth of your rule set, you may need to manage the logic outside of CJA and provide it to AEP as a transformed Lookup data set. There's also licensing Data Distiller as an AEP-side transformation option https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/experience-platform/query/data-distiller/overview.html?lang=en, but would really depend on the ruleset logic coverage.

Best,

Brian

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