You can further optimize the recommendations on your advice page by making smart use of the option to treat a question as a filter:

1. When to treat a question as a filter

Aiden's recommendations algorithm is based on scoring and weighing every single product in your catalogue. The score of each product is decided by you when you match the products to the answers in Matching.

<aside> 💡 Find out more about matching: Match products to answers

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Normally, products that are marked as a 'bad match' (X) receive a lower score, but are not excluded from the results. After all, a customer may still find the product suitable if it matches all of their other preferences perfectly.

However, there may be times when you want 'bad matches' to be fully excluded from the results.

Let's say you work for a webshop that sells concerts. Some of your customers may be looking to visit a concert with their kids. A Mickey Mouse concert would be perfect. However, when the recommendations contain a concert like the Matthäus Passion, this would not be great advice.

Similarly, a fashion webshop may want to only show products that match the 'size' question a customer answered, because products of a different size wouldn't fit that customer.

To enable this, you can set a question as a hard requirement instead of a preference. By doing so, products classified as a 'bad match' (X) will not be shown to your customer in the result. Here's a side-by-side:

The advice page when bad matches are weighted: the Matthäus Passion is still shown in the results when the answer 'kids' was chosen. It is simply marked as a bad match.

The advice page when bad matches are weighted: the Matthäus Passion is still shown in the results when the answer 'kids' was chosen. It is simply marked as a bad match.

The advice page when bad matches are excluded: the Matthäus Passion is hidden from the results.

The advice page when bad matches are excluded: the Matthäus Passion is hidden from the results.

2. How to treat a question as a filter

  1. Navigate to Matching and use the dropdown to select the question you're looking for.

  2. Set your matching in such a way that the products you want to exclude receive a 'bad match'.

    The Matthäus Passion is a bad match for kids; it will be hidden from the recommendations. A Mickey Mouse concert is perfect for kids, and neutral for adults.

    The Matthäus Passion is a bad match for kids; it will be hidden from the recommendations. A Mickey Mouse concert is perfect for kids, and neutral for adults.

  3. Activate the toggle below the question:

    Activate the toggle to exclude bad matches from the advice page.

    Activate the toggle to exclude bad matches from the advice page.

  4. Click Preview to see the effect!

  5. Make sure to Update your app for these changes to be visible in the live app!