How to exclude specific users from an Assignment even if they otherwise match the audience criteria — for edge cases, overlapping groups, and intentional exemptions.
Exclusionary logic is a filter that runs after your main audience selection. The main audience tells Continu who should get the assignment; the exclusion filter tells Continu who should be removed from that audience even though they match. Use exclusions for users who are otherwise in scope but should not receive the specific assignment.
When to Use Exclusionary Logic
External users mixed into broad audiences. "Assign this to all users in Sales — except External Users." Without an exclusion, contractors in the Sales department would also receive the assignment.
Recently-completed users. "Assign annual recertification to everyone — except users who completed it in the last 60 days." Without an exclusion, recent completers get re-assigned unnecessarily.
Specific exempted individuals. "Assign to all Managers — except [specific user] who has an existing waiver." Exclusion lets you carve out individuals without changing your audience definition.
Overlapping Groups. "Assign to Group A — except users also in Group B who get different content." Useful when your Group structure has intentional overlap.
How to Apply Exclusionary Logic
1. Build the main audience first. Set up your Smart Segmentation, Group, or user list as the inclusion filter.
2. Open the Exclusions section in the Assignment builder.
3. Add the exclusion criteria. Same audience types as the main audience: specific users, Groups, Departments, Smart Segmentation rules, or any combination.
4. Preview the resulting audience. Continu shows the count after exclusions are applied. Verify the number matches your expectation.
Exclusion criteria can be stacked — multiple exclusions all apply.
Inclusion + Exclusion = Final Audience
The final audience is: users who match the inclusion AND don't match any exclusion. A user matching both inclusion and exclusion criteria is excluded.
This means exclusion always wins. If you accidentally exclude a Group that should be included, those users won't get the assignment even if they match all inclusion criteria.
Common Mistakes
Stacking exclusions until nobody qualifies. Each additional exclusion narrows the audience. After two or three layers, you may have zero users. Preview the audience count before activating.
Using exclusion when a different audience would be cleaner. If you're carving out a large group with exclusion, consider whether a different Smart Segmentation rule or Group would express the intent more directly.
Forgetting to update exclusions when the audience changes. An exclusion based on a Group depends on that Group's membership. If the Group changes, the exclusion result changes.
See Also
- Smart Segmentation — for inclusion criteria.
- Creating a Direct Assignment — where exclusion lives in the Direct flow.
- Creating an Automated Assignment — where exclusion lives in the Automated flow.
Build inclusion first, then add exclusion criteria. Final audience = matches inclusion AND doesn't match any exclusion. Preview the count before activating.