Have you ever thought about the topic of rating systems? Here are some thoughts on it. Let's imagine a forum thread about Tomy's great restaurant in London. Since 2014, there have been 2,456 posts from 437 users. Some have dined there over a hundred times, while others only once. Some visited recently, others only back in 2014.
In any case, we have a lot of ratings for this restaurant, but they all range from 1 to 5. What do we do now?
Most people want to know if it's a good restaurant and if they should visit soon. Because many people are too lazy to read, they just look at the star ratings. Anything that doesn't have at least four stars in the forum overview isn't even considered.
It's problematic that we have two restaurants like this: one used to be top-notch but is now a dive, yet it still has a rating of four stars if you include all ratings. The other was once a dump but is now the best place in town, also with a four-star rating.
Should we disregard old ratings? How do we do that? Only count ratings younger than two years? Or only what happened this year? What if it's only January? Or count this year and last year up to June, and only this year from July onwards?
What do we do if, because of these settings, only 30 percent of the places have ratings?
Bernd goes to the place twice a week, Sabrina only once a year. Whose opinion is more valuable? Should Sabrina's rating count once per year and Bernd's around 100 times? Or is Bernd the owner's advertising guy who always gives five stars? Do we need a search function for such types so they don't count? Or do we just sum up everything per user so that each user has only one rating in the overall score?
Do we want an annual evaluation? 2014, 2015, 2016, or if there are too many blank years, a smart summary of years so that there are always at least 100 users? Maybe only up to 2022 because 2023 and 2024 need to be shown unaltered?
Or maybe we mix things up? We take each user's last five ratings, preferably from the last two years? But if they only have old ratings, we weight them somehow? Everything from 2024 times 5, 2023 times 4, etc.?
Should we delete old ratings altogether, or show all ratings per post but not count everything?
And generally, if someone wanted to sit down and write such an addon, should they focus on one version first, then build a second and third? Or pack as much as possible into one addon?
For example, we haven't even discussed statistical methods and means. For instance, could we weight the top and bottom ratings of a user less? And what about genders, would you be interested in how a beer is rated by women? Not me, as long as I just want to drink it.
As you can see, this isn't rocket science, and the new addon could probably be done in one or two hours. Or maybe not, because instead of being at the computer, I'm writing this plea for help to maybe get one or two useful ideas and opinions on the topic.
Of course, one could also follow the example of RM. One rating per user. Done. If a new rating is given, the old one is deleted. Period.
This text was translated by my new best friend. For any harsh criticism of the translation, please call Silicon Valley! They are always to blame. For everything. Always!
In any case, we have a lot of ratings for this restaurant, but they all range from 1 to 5. What do we do now?
Most people want to know if it's a good restaurant and if they should visit soon. Because many people are too lazy to read, they just look at the star ratings. Anything that doesn't have at least four stars in the forum overview isn't even considered.
It's problematic that we have two restaurants like this: one used to be top-notch but is now a dive, yet it still has a rating of four stars if you include all ratings. The other was once a dump but is now the best place in town, also with a four-star rating.
Should we disregard old ratings? How do we do that? Only count ratings younger than two years? Or only what happened this year? What if it's only January? Or count this year and last year up to June, and only this year from July onwards?
What do we do if, because of these settings, only 30 percent of the places have ratings?
Bernd goes to the place twice a week, Sabrina only once a year. Whose opinion is more valuable? Should Sabrina's rating count once per year and Bernd's around 100 times? Or is Bernd the owner's advertising guy who always gives five stars? Do we need a search function for such types so they don't count? Or do we just sum up everything per user so that each user has only one rating in the overall score?
Do we want an annual evaluation? 2014, 2015, 2016, or if there are too many blank years, a smart summary of years so that there are always at least 100 users? Maybe only up to 2022 because 2023 and 2024 need to be shown unaltered?
Or maybe we mix things up? We take each user's last five ratings, preferably from the last two years? But if they only have old ratings, we weight them somehow? Everything from 2024 times 5, 2023 times 4, etc.?
Should we delete old ratings altogether, or show all ratings per post but not count everything?
And generally, if someone wanted to sit down and write such an addon, should they focus on one version first, then build a second and third? Or pack as much as possible into one addon?
For example, we haven't even discussed statistical methods and means. For instance, could we weight the top and bottom ratings of a user less? And what about genders, would you be interested in how a beer is rated by women? Not me, as long as I just want to drink it.
As you can see, this isn't rocket science, and the new addon could probably be done in one or two hours. Or maybe not, because instead of being at the computer, I'm writing this plea for help to maybe get one or two useful ideas and opinions on the topic.
Of course, one could also follow the example of RM. One rating per user. Done. If a new rating is given, the old one is deleted. Period.
This text was translated by my new best friend. For any harsh criticism of the translation, please call Silicon Valley! They are always to blame. For everything. Always!
