Resources
Blog
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Data visualisations Why you should be using a two-layer architecture
External ReferenceBy Álvaro Díaz on 24 October 2018
Creación de visualizaciones de datos independientes del marco utilizando D3 y TypeScript
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The Power of Site Search in Digital Marketing
Blog PostBy Olalla Salazar on 18 October 2018
We already know, or should know, that a good site search engine is proven to lift conversions. But what about its use as a means to drive, activate or monitor tailored marketing campaigns?
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Synonyms in Solr I — The good, the bad and the ugly
External ReferenceBy David Argüello on 16 October 2018
Synonyms is one of the most used tools in search as it allows users to manually fix boolean relevancy problems by being able to expand upon terms based on their equivalence. Using synonyms allow users to find documents through multiple terms that might not have been used in the original document definition.
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Automated Testing for eCommerce
External ReferenceBy Ana González on 11 October 2018
As part of EmpathyBroker’s QA team, our mission is to ensure that the user’s search and discovery experience in multiple eCommerce sites is of the highest quality.
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The modern backend is here Kotlin
External ReferenceBy Álvaro Panizo on 10 October 2018
Wait, you don’t know anything about the history of this new language? Then I suggest you take a minute to put “Kotlin” into your search bar and thousands of resources will appear on how JetBrains, with the support of Google, has developed one of the most modern and promising languages for backend stack.
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How Spring Boot Autoconfiguration works?
External Reference05 October 2018
It’s been a while since we adopted Spring Boot for some of our services and applications here at EmpathyBroker. You know how it goes, some annotations here, a few configurations over there and … voilà, a fresh new service ready to be deployed.
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Seeing the web clearer
External Reference04 October 2018
Colour-Blindness, also known as Daltonism or Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD), is a syndrome that affects around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women worldwide, that’s around 318 million men and 18 million women, roughly 8% of the world’s population, the equivalent of the whole population of the United States of America!
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Hello Search, this is me.
External ReferenceBy Borja Santaolalla on 01 October 2018
Personalisation is a term I personally hate. ;) I’ve seen so much of it, so many broken promises from multiple enterprise software vendors throughout the last 10 years that I’ve just had enough. Well, enough disappointments let me add. However, we get “personalised” content and experiences every single day. Google, Amazon, Airbnb, Netflix, etc and yet, they don’t talk about it, they just do it and we enjoy it.
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Improving Search Suggestions for eCommerce
External ReferenceBy Alejandro Pérez on 27 September 2018
Suggestions are one of the key parts of any site search system. They’re the first interaction a user receives at the beginning of a search session but wait, what is a search suggestion? When a user starts writing a query inside a search box they usually expect to receive some kind of guidance and help in terms of what the search engine could find for them. This guidance is provided by search suggestions.
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Git-flow Applied to a Real Project
External Reference25 September 2018
Git-flow is a branching model for Git designed by Vincent Driessen to provide a wrapper around git commands that basically allows you to create branches. If you’re thinking about using this workflow, ask yourself the following question Which one of these photos represents you?
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“You’ve sent a query to Solr but these aren’t the results you were looking for”
External Reference21 September 2018
Debugging is the correct path to take when we need to find and resolve unexpected software behaviours and this is also the case, for example, when there’s a relevancy problem in Solr. Let’s imagine we create a Solr instance with a collection deployed to obtain all the documents containing “Darth Vader.” We start by building a query like
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Creating better UX experiences through rapid prototyping
External ReferenceBy Jorge Soto on 20 September 2018
At EmpathyBroker we focus on creating joyful customer experiences, helping our clients to select, mix and adapt our search engine functionality and features which are then completely integrated into any design or technology they may use.
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How to Solve the Common Problems in Image Recognition
External Reference14 September 2018
Most classification problems related to image recognition are plagued with well-known and established problems. For example, frequently there won’t be enough data to properly train a classification system, the data might have some underrepresented classes, and most commonly, working with unscrutinised data will imply working with poorly labelled data.
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Looking into the use and benefits of Microservices
External Reference11 September 2018
Microservices are a relatively new type of software development paradigm. They consist of services that run independently and autonomously but that have the ability to collaborate with each other to form a complete application ...
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80% of Spaniards are Shopping More Online Now than a Year Ago
Blog PostBy Angel Maldonado on 10 September 2018
Last month we looked into some of the UK results from the international consumer research we conducted to explore online shopping habits across both the UK and Spain. In this article, we’re going to take a deeper dive into the results for Spain and the impact eCommerce is having on the Iberian Peninsula.
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Our new Future visualisation - Detecting and predicting trends and behaviour
External ReferenceBy Olalla Salazar on 04 September 2018
As part of our drive to make eCommerce search data more easily visible and actionable, our latest visualisation has been designed to detect trends within our main search performance indicators. And moreover, to be able to use these to predict future behaviour.
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Incident detection and continuous monitoring in AWS
External Reference30 August 2018
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is now in effect, aiming to oversee people’s Fundamental Rights regarding personal data processing, protection and portability.
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The Impact of Automated Testing in QA Environments
External ReferenceBy Ana González on 28 August 2018
The never-ending discussion of manual versus automated testing continues unabated in work environments when we face the challenge of controlling the quality of a product. This is because there is more than one way to perform a QA process with good results. The key is to find a quality control process that best suits the product we want to test and define the working methodology of the development and testing teams. This is what EmpathyBroker is putting into practice to improve its quality control process.
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The influence of TF-IDF algorithms in eCommerce search
External ReferenceBy David Argüello on 24 August 2018
At a basic level, information retrieval systems work by receiving a term and returning a set of documents relevant for that term. The magic that happens inside these systems is defined by algorithms that, relying on probability and statistical measures, are responsible for deciding which documents are relevant for a term and the ranking of those documents. One of these statistical measures is TF-IDF.
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A voyage into the back-end
External ReferenceBy Álvaro Panizo on 23 August 2018
Today the employment world of Software Engineering has become a fierce battle field characterized by the diversity of the weapons that each fighter brings to eliminate the competition. Education can fall short in a world in which each discipline requires years of experience to deepen the understanding of the concepts and their basis, turning the notion of a “jack of all trades and a master of none” on its head.
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It's time to focus on site search and performance
Blog PostBy Olalla Salazar on 22 August 2018
eCommerce search has changed a lot in the last few years. Everyone´s experienced that feeling of frustration when using a search box to look for a specific product and not being able to find it, even when we know with certainty that the product exits in the catalogue. Fortunately, this feeling is becoming rarer these days. However, that doesn't mean that the problem has been completely resolved. Site search experience is much more than just avoiding the frustration a user feels when their expectations aren’t reached; it’s about achieving consistency, reliability and user happiness through the search box.
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Let´s talk about Testing
External ReferenceBy Jorge Gabriel on 07 August 2018
Frequently, and especially in social networks and technology forums, I come across essays on the principles of the methodology of testing. Among the different approaches, there are those who strongly defend manual testing against automatic tests, and then I also find many who throw away human testing to leave everything in the hands of the automated tests.
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Scientists vs Dreamers in Product Management
External ReferenceBy Angel Maldonado on 30 July 2018
Being data driven is considered a good thing, there is truth in it, but there is also truth in questioning it. There is danger in prioritising reason over unreason when it comes to exercising...
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Why Findability is the only real metrics that matters and why we’ve evolved how we measure it
Blog Post17 July 2018
When you browse on an eCommerce site, you’re perhaps unaware of the amount of information you’re generating, and the same happens when you make a query on a search engine. All your activity, from the searches to the navigation to the add to cart, generates data which is extremely useful for online retailers. What’s more, this information often forms a basis for the decisions they take to improve their site and services.
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“How to use customer obsession to build products that delight”
Blog PostBy Angel Maldonado on 09 July 2018
I had the personal pleasure to attend and host our first ProductTank meet-up in Barcelona last week with guest speaker Jeff Gothelf, author of Lean UX and Sense and Respond, and organised by Gino Micacchi.
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Summer Sales Outpace Black Friday
Blog PostBy Germán Heredia on 05 July 2018
The summer sales period can witness some of the busiest shopping days of the year for particular retailers, generating high traffic, high buying intent and a high emotional sentiment from consumers, and this year certainly didn’t disappoint.
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THE FUTURE OF AI IS PEOPLE
External ReferenceBy Angel Maldonado on 13 June 2018
Why AI has become a cherished part of digital and how creativity will dictate its future.
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The Challenging Dimensions of Image Recognition (2º part)
External Reference28 May 2018
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence have been gaining traction and popularity over the last few years, and beyond Google’s tech scene. As eCommerce continues to grow at such an electric pace, we see more and more features, from recommendations and search ranking to alert systems, that are driven by deep learning and artificial intelligence technologies.
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Online book searches increase by more than 100% during fairs or on special dates
Blog PostBy Germán Heredia on 25 May 2018
Special Dates are distinct days or periods that demonstrate unique behaviours as customers exhibit different and singular characteristics, representing a huge selling and revenue potential. The opening of the Madrid Book Fair in El Retiro Park on Friday 25 May is one such opportunity when booksellers can leverage the heightened interest the fair stimulates in literature and convert this period into a major generator of additional income.
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Searching for Seasonal Keywords within the Data Forest
External ReferenceBy Germán Heredia on 21 May 2018
At EmpathyBroker one of the challenges we’ve taken on is to develop Data visualisation into one of our crown jewels. We’ve invested a lot of time and resource in this area and one visualisation that’s been particularly interesting is that of keywords. In fact, we started working on this due to a huge customer demand and a desire to understand the use of site search queries and terms.
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Zara’s intelligent use of search data is transforming it’s online store and putting the customer back at the centre
External ReferenceBy Borja Santaolalla on 15 May 2018
Zara.com opened its doors to a selection of media titles earlier this year for the first time ever, and the resulting articles generated a lot of attention within the fashion industry. I personally found it very interesting to see the role that search now plays within their digital agenda. In particular, the way search data is being used for a number of diverse purposes and within different departments beyond purely helping users to find products.
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Really Understanding Zero Results Searches
External ReferenceBy José Cabañeros on 03 May 2018
“What products are customers currently demanding that we don’t have?” This question is probably one of the most repeatedly asked by all eCommerce companies in order to understand demand and product replacement. The answer seems obvious “The products that people search for and can’t find!” But, this isn’t entirely true.
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WORLD BOOK DAY SEARCH INSIGHTS
Blog PostBy Germán Heredia on 30 April 2018
As we´ve looked at previously with Black Friday and Valentine´s Day, special dates generate unique behaviours. For booksellers, World Book Day is their Black Friday with huge selling and revenue potential as consumers rediscover their love for reading and books. Established by UNESCO, it´s a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and reading around the world and the one-day festival is celebrated in over 100 countries, driving millions of buyers worldwide.
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The role of search and browse when building a commerce product
External ReferenceBy Angel Maldonado on 10 April 2018
Think of Buying as a dance; a fun movement of attempted balance between emotion and reason, between desire and need.
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The Personal Data storm makes me wonder What is the future of User Profiling in Commerce?
External ReferenceBy Angel Maldonado on 21 March 2018
GDPR and Facebook rebuke will change the way online players treat Personal Data Online players have already started to overhaul their Personal Data participatory systems and partnerships. Seeking to drastically reduce Personal Data usage beyond their strict needs as they try to appease Europeans and even Worldwide consumers while also re-establishing trust.
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Search is redefining the ecommerce experience
External ReferenceBy Borja Santaolalla on 12 March 2018
It’s not enough anymore to just design a great product. Nor is it to have the coolest store. I mean yes, it definitely helps, but in the end it all comes back to brands and emotions. Making people feel unique and special. Making people feel good and connected to a brand through experience.
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The Challenging Dimensions of Image Recognition (part 1)
External Reference02 March 2018
As consistent product data greases the wheels of eCommerce, the inconsistency that emerges from dealing with a large number of fashion items raises different challenges. How to organise and standardise the product data received from different retailers? Or, how to supply the missing information and ensure accuracy across distinctive catalogues?
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SPECIAL DATES VALENTINE’S SEARCH INSIGHTS
External ReferenceBy Germán Heredia on 23 February 2018
Romance was certainly in the air last week as many of us reached into our wallets to demonstrate our love. Valentine´s day has in fact become one of the busiest and most important days of the year for some eCommerce companies, driving millions of buyers worldwide.
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Valentine’s Commerce Search?
External ReferenceBy Angel Maldonado on 13 February 2018
Valentines drives hundreds of Millions of buyers who expose very unique Search & Discovery patterns. In our experience, Valentines buyers exhibit high commitment, knowing more about their desirable item, looking for shortcuts.
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The Perfect Commerce Strategy
External ReferenceBy Angel Maldonado on 07 February 2018
There are two ways of looking at the capacities that a Commerce Platform has to offer. One is technically, another experientially. Technically, a store is seen as a set of interconnected steps that serve a user in the so called Shopping Process. Experientially, a store is seen as a User Interfacing layer that serves a Human need to communicate.