u/alexmarquardt

Many e-commerce search implementations are "intent-blind"—they match tokens, but they don't understand context. In this second part of my PRISM series, I’m digging into the architecture of how we solved this using a middleware approach.

The Highlight: We’re using Elasticsearch Percolator queries to do real-time policy lookups. Instead of searching for products, we search for intent first, then rewrite the query on the fly.

What’s in the video:

• Moving search logic out of the app layer and into a governed index.
• Implementing Hard Filters vs. Soft Boosts via the PRISM engine.
• The Math: How we’re influencing $BM25$ ranking using multiplicative boosting.

Search for "steak" on some e-commerce sites and you'll sometimes get steak knives. Here's why — and how we're fixing it.

Most e-commerce search engines are "intent-blind" because traditional search lacks a functional bridge between merchandising goals and technical execution.

In this video, I introduce PRISM (Policy, Rules, & Intent Synthesis Middleware), an Elastic Services accelerator that gives retailers a Governed Control Plane. PRISM decouples business logic from engineering sprints, letting you fix relevance errors and optimize results in seconds.

What's covered:
• The Architecture
• The "Steak" Test — fixing a real-world relevance error in 30 seconds
• SKU & Product ID — auto-detecting technical intent vs. general search
• Complex Queries — handling "Fruit high in Vitamin C under $4" without AI hallucinations
📖 Full 8-part architectural deep dive on Elasticsearch Labs, linked to from my personal blog: https://alexmarquardt.com/
🌐 Elastic Services: https://www.elastic.co/consulting/contact
💼 Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandermarqu...