Computed attributes UI guide
In Adobe Experience Platform, computed attributes are functions used to aggregate event-level data into profile-level attributes. These functions are automatically computed so that they can be used across segmentation, activation, and personalization.
This document provides a guide on how to create and update computed attributes using the Adobe Experience Platform UI.
Getting started
This UI guide requires an understanding of the various Experience Platform services involved with managing Real-Time Customer Profiles. Before reading this guide, or working in the UI, please review the documentation for the following services:
- Real-Time Customer Profile: Provides a unified, real-time consumer profile based on aggregated data from multiple sources.
- Experience Data Model (XDM) System: The standardized framework by which Experience Platform organizes customer experience data.
View computed attributes view
In the Experience Platform UI, select Profiles in the left navigation, followed by Computed attributes to see a list of the computed attributes available for your organization. This includes information about the computed attribute’s name, description, last evaluation date, and last evaluation status.
To select which fields are visible, you can select to add or remove which fields you want to be displayed.
The current status of the computed attribute. There are three possible statuses:
- Draft: The computed attribute does not have a field created on the schema yet. In this state, the computed attribute can be edited.
- Published: The computed attribute has a field created on the schema and is ready to be used. In this state, the computed attribute cannot be edited.
- Inactive: The computed attribute is disabled. For more information about the inactive status, please read the FAQ page.
You can also filter the displayed computed attributes based on the lifecycle status. Select the icon.
You can now choose to filter the computed attributes by status (Draft, Published, and Inactive).
Additionally, you can select a computed attribute to see more detailed information about it. For more information on the computed attributes details page, please read the view a computed attribute’s details section.
Create a computed attribute create
To create a new computed attribute, select Create computed attribute to enter the new computed attribute workflow.
The Create computed attribute page appears. On this page, you can add the basic information for the computed attribute you want to create.
After adding the computed attribute details, you can start defining your rules.
Specify event filtering conditions
To create a rule, first select attributes from the Events section to filter down events that you want to aggregate on. Currently, only non-array type event attributes are supported.
After selecting the attribute to use in the computed attribute definition, you can choose what this value will be compared to.
Apply aggregation function
Now, you can apply a function to the field from the conditional output. First, select the aggregation function type. Available options include Sum, Min, Max, Count, and Most Recent. More information about these functions can be found in the functions section of the computed attributes overview.
After choosing a function, you can choose the field to aggregate on. The eligible fields to choose are dependent on the function selected.
Lookback duration
After applying the aggregation function, you’ll need to define the lookback period of the computed attribute. This lookback period specifies the length of time that you want to aggregate events on. This lookback duration can be specified in terms of hours, days, weeks, or months.
Fast refresh fast-refresh
While applying the aggregation function, you can enable fast refresh if the lookback period is greater than one week.
Fast refresh allows you to keep your attributes up-to-date. Enabling this option lets you refresh your computed attributes on a daily basis, even for longer lookback periods, allowing you to rapidly react to user activities.
For more information on fast refresh, please read the fast refresh section of the computed attributes overview.
With these steps completed, you can now either choose to save this computed attribute as a draft or to immediately publish it.
View a computed attribute’s details view-details
To view the details of a computed attribute, select the computed attribute you want to see details about on the Browse page.
The content of the page differs, depending if the computed attribute is Published or in Draft.
Published computed attribute published
When selecting a published computed attribute, the computed attributes detail page appears.
This page displays a summary of the computed attribute’s details, as well as a graph showing the value distribution as well as sample profiles that qualify for the computed attribute.
Draft computed attribute draft
When selecting a draft computed attribute, the Edit computed attributes page appears. This page, similarly to the Create computed attributes page, lets you edit your computed attribute’s basic information, as well as its definition, before letting you update the draft or publish it.
Using computed attributes usage
After creating a computed attribute, you can use published computed attributes in other downstream services. Since computed attributes are profile attribute fields created on your profile union schema, you can look up computed attribute values for a Real-Time Customer Profile, use them in an audience, activate them to a destination, or use them for personalization in journeys in Adobe Journey Optimizer.
Next steps
To learn more about computed attributes, please read the computed attributes overview. For information on creating and configuring computed attributes using the API, please read the computed attributes developer guide.