A Humorous Take on Rating-Scales
Aalok Vidyarthi
Sales Director at Colgate-Palmolive | Versatile CPG Leader | Digital Transformation Advocate
For our convenience's sake, our ratings are increasingly sought on a 5-point scale -- let's pause for a second and thank God for it! But the 10-point scale is not totally out of circulation. We still encounter it. There are some satisfaction surveys, specially the ones trying to get to a Net Promoter Score (NPS), that deploy it. And the argument in its favor is that it is more nuanced and discriminating in capturing the breadth of our emotions coming from an experience. Shouldn't we be glad that the attempt to quantify the entire range of human feelings has been limited to a count of ten?
The problem with rating scales is that we don't quite know what each 'star,' or each point means. But three things are always clear to us. First, we know the maximum and the minimum offered by the scale. Second, unless otherwise specified, we understand that the higher the number the better. Third, the feedback seeker would like us to choose the highest or the second-highest number, and sometimes, if we chose anything less, our feedback-giving could stretch further by one or two steps, and a few more seconds or minutes!
So, the next time you come across a 10-point rating scale, remember that each rating point could represent one of the following distinct feelings, with the associated unique description:
1: Repulsive… "Don't wish to be reminded"
2: Nightmarish… "Won't want to talk about it"
3: Terrible… "The less said the better"
4: Bad… "Don't wish to experience again"
5: So-so… "Umm… OK. Some good, some bad"
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6: Good… "Could have been better"
7: Very Good… "Will want it to repeat"
8: Memorable… "Will love to recount to others"
9: Unbelievable… "Really so good as to be the stuff of dreams"
10: Unimaginable… "Good beyond the imagination of dreams"
Hopefully my take was humorous enough to get into your long term memory, to help you give ratings in the future. On that note, and if you've come so far reading, how about using the comments section to give my write up a rating on the 10-point rating scale?
Regional Team Lead at Colgate-Palmolive
5 个月I would have expressed my thoughts about Hooton differently had I read this article sooner, Aalok ??
Chief Operating Officer at Biocrux India Pvt Ltd
9 个月Interesting take compulsory as you described one lower than maximum hahaha
International business professional. FMCG. Bangladesh-Nepal-Srilanka-Bhutan-Maldives-Myanmar
9 个月good to see Sir
CPG Sales Leader at Kenvue | ex-McKinsey | Cornell MBA | B2B/B2C Partnerships, Omni-Channel Customer Engagement, Business Strategy, Key Accounts P&L Management, Contract Negotiations, Data Analytics
9 个月While I'd spontaneously always shoot with a 10/10 for something that has your brand on it, if I am forced to go by the definitions, a 10, "Good beyond the imagination of dreams" or even a 9, "Really so good as to be the stuff of dreams" starts to sound comical in the context ?? So, 8, "Will love to recount to others" sounds more like it! That said, I do empathize with the perceived mandate for service providers to have these "dreamy" ratings where even a 4/5 or 8-9/10 could be perceived as an outright failure. Loved your take on it, Aalok!
Business Leader with core expertise in FMCG, OTC || FMS Delhi || Economic Times Young Leader winner
9 个月An 11 on 10 indeed, beyond the scale :)