Erik Hatcher
Search engineer at MongoDB. Author of the MongoDB Hybrid Search series, which runs from a survey of the findability landscape through the classic fusion mechanisms to Semantic Boosting, the two-phase hybrid retrieval technique he names and describes.
His recurring theme across the series is the discipline rather than the algorithm: measure, tune, repeat, and a running check of whether the added complexity is worth it — “is the juice worth the squeeze?” He defines Hybrid Search from experience rather than the literature, as combining two or more search techniques to produce results better than any single technique alone, and insists the word “better” is what obliges you to measure.
Known for practical, implementation-focused search content — working with Lucene, Solr, and Atlas Search.
Articles
The MongoDB Hybrid Search series, in order:
- Survey of the Hybrid Search Landscape —
author_of(2025-04-01) - Reciprocal Rank Fusion and Relative Score Fusion —
author_of(2025-11-20) - Hybrid Search Blueprint Series Semantic Boosting —
author_of
Key Concepts
- Semantic Boosting — the technique he names
- Hybrid Search — his experiential definition anchors the series
- Reciprocal Rank Fusion — worked in full in part 2
- Relative Score Fusion — worked in full in part 2
- Score Normalization — the step he flags as decisive for score fusion
- Search Observability — the query/click logging practice he prescribes as a prerequisite