[brown9-2]

But how is Simple Stupid in the Amazon case a better output for the user? Do you, as an Amazon shopper, really believe that the item with one 5-star review is a better bet for you than the item with 580 reviews and an average of 4.5-stars?

[yariang]

I don't, but I can intuitively grasp that a 5-star item with 2 reviews is not reliable. Since I understand how the sorting works, I know I have to jump to the 4.5 star items in order and check how many reviews that item has and if it also has a small number then I will jump to the 4 star items.

The point is, I understand the sorting order and can manipulate them if I am not satisfied with what is presented to me. Having a very esoteric algorithm is a risk. Maybe you'll present just what the user really wanted. But if you get it wrong they will be lost to do anything about it. I tend to dislike systems that leave users helpless when something goes wrong.