| "my wife and I would review accounts and lease to renters who had given more positive reviews" That is exactly what he/she is saying. I'm not actually surprised by this. 5-star ratings are a poor means of actually ranking things as they are generally currently implemented - especially when there is no guidance as to what each star means. Big issues include: As per this post, if PartyA needs high ratings and can see all the ratings PartyB provides to other PartyA types, they will certainly favor those PartyB types who rate higher. The "average" on most of these 1 to 5 star scales is not a 3. E.g. the average Uber driver rating is 4.7 (or something) stars. So what does that mean to the user? I need to remember 4.7 is ok but 4.8 is good? Shouldn't the app provide guidance to users? Say to the user, "if you had a good overall drive - rate this 3 stars". Why doesn't the AirBnB app "curve" ratings as well? Meaning apply my ratings to a bell curve with the average being a 3 - i.e. if my average rating is 4.8 with a high of 5 and a low of 4.6 - why doesn't the app just translate my 4.6 a "1", my 5 a "5" and curve the rest of my ratings so my average fits on the scale? Then users would know that a "3" is average - which for AirBNB might mean "good"? And a 4.8 is truly exceptional? And of course none of this addresses the problem where my "exceptional" does not match yours. Maybe I like I like eco-tourism and camping, and you like Ritz Carltons and gold martinis. Or maybe I like slow and safe drivers and you like fast drives who run yellow lights? Regardless, I'm tired of all these meaningless inflations. |