Nowadays it seems that – as an internet user – there is the opportunity to rate a product, service or piece of information whenever and wherever you want. From clothing to handymen and from articles to restaurants.
User ratings are a type of user generated content: visitors of a website are asked to rate a product in order to provide an ‘overall opinion’, that might be useful to other visitors. The presence of user ratings on websites grows rapidly; you’re allowed to have an opinion on almost anything on the web. User ratings come in different varieties: from very simple star ratings to more elaborated grade based judgments accompanied with text input. The question is whether users really need and appreciate those ratings, and whether all products and services are evenly suitable for user ratings. Let’s start with considering the simple star ratings.
In our everyday practice at valsplat we regularly test websites and applications in which users ratings play a part. Based on these experiences some do’s and don’ts will be provided, illustrated with examples. Although some of these may seem obvious and simple, bad examples on the web are plentiful and a lot of improvements can be made.
Don’t ask taste related opinions, unless it is a competition
You often see this type of user ratings in web shops, where users are asked to rate a specific product, like a pair of shoes or a purse. Almost all test users we’ve seen in our lab consider these kind of ratings of little value. Because it is a matter of personal taste they do not seriously consider the outcome of the rating in their decision making when buying online.
However, if it is a matter of finding out which product is most popular, a taste related rating might be suitable.
Be clear in what you’re asking people to rate
Ratings become useless when it is not clear what aspect of the product is rated. In the example on the left users are asked to rate a recipe, but it is unclear what exactly you’re asked to judge: The level of hardness of the recipe? The quality of the dish? The time it takes to prepare?
A solution to this problem might be to clarify the rating system (to both voters and viewers), or to enable users to add a textual explanation, see the example below.
.
Provide feedback
It is important to provide feedback in different stages of user ratings. Without it, visitors won’t know what will be done with their input or how to value the output of the rating. Always make sure the input of the rating is confirmed (‘Thanks for submitting your rating!’) and in the output always show the number of votes the rating is based on.
Make sure the right people do the judging
Our general experience is that people appreciate user ratings when the ratings are submitted by people that know what they are talking about. For example: a rating of a hotel in Spain is useful if it illustrates the opinion of those who spent their holiday in that hotel. A camera rating is considered valuable when it tells things that are not in the product specifications.
Conclusion
Although most of the ratings discussed in this article are very low profile, it is important to consider the actual need before applying them. When using a star rating always make sure the intention and feedback are clear.