Online shopping has been booming in the last decades, and it is arguably just as important as shops and malls in the real world. And with the rise of online shopping, virtual vendors had to come up with different ways of attracting new customers. At the same time, users needed a certain system through which they could judge whether a product or a service would be worth purchasing. And this is how ratings for websites and apps came about.
Let’s say that you were looking for a new fridge for your home. One of the first steps in achieving this would be to research the market to determine which producers offer the best offers for fridges. During this research period, checking ratings that were left by other users could save a lot of time and effort. And we all know that time is money! But let’s dive in a bit into the topic of ratings and how we, as UI/UX designers, can integrate them into our websites and apps.
Ratings represent a visual representation of the user’s feedback. The users have the ability to express their thoughts and feelings regarding a product, service, design, or app without any repercussions.
In order to ensure a great user experience, it is important to allow visitors to express their feedback about a product or service. UI UX designers most commonly use ratings for e-commerce websites and apps, because they have a great power of influencing other potential customers to purchase products. However, there are also many other types of web pages in which rating can be integrated.
One of the most well-known social media platforms is YouTube, which has an interesting rating system. For their video content, they allow users to rate it by either liking or disliking the content. This makes for a polarizing user experience, as most social media apps stray away from putting forward the option of giving negative feedback. Instagram and Facebook, just to name a few, only provide like buttons for their users.
If we want to integrate ratings into our UI UX designs, we need to be familiar with the types we can choose from, depending on the context of a website or an app.
- The binary method – that type of review gives the user the possibility of quickly offering their opinion regarding a certain subject. This is a fast and easy method to gather data and not overwhelm the user. A good example of this type is the YouTube rating system which allows users to like or dislike content.
- Textual review – This type of rating allows the user to express their experience and share their opinion without any place of interpretation. At the same time, users are encouraged to add photos, which can actually increase user experience. Although textual reviews provide detailed insights, they may be detrimental to user interfaces if the intention is to make them as minimalistic as possible.
- Close-ended questions – this type of rating can be encountered when describing a problem or when asking for a quick opinion regarding the product. An example of a well-known close-ended rating system is Google Maps. When you select a route with a public means of transportation, such as the bus, Google Maps might ask you if the transportation was crowded in order to help other users. The Google Maps app design has been proven to be successful due to its interactive features.
- Scale or range – These can be used by the user to rate the degree or certain services and products. These types of ratings require minimal effort and time spent by the user completing them. One of the most famous companies that implement a scale rating system is IKEA. After you shop from their stores, they give you different categories such as staff and product quality to rate.
- Scale and close-ended questions – Those types of ratings combine a scale and a close-ended question in order to deliver a more accurate review. At the same time, it offsets the user the ability to choose whether or not to enter more specific information. A great example of mixing these two rating techniques is the Airbnb app, which allows users to rate specific elements while also adding their personal input through text.
There are multiple occasions when integrating a rating system into the website or app design can be suitable.
- Ratings should be required only after the user has tested or tried the product or the service. Every UI UX designer should avoid asking their users for their feedback before interacting with the product, app, or service.
- Ratings need to be placed only after the users interact with the product and avoid as much as possible interpreting the user. Asking for feedback while the users are experiencing the app can feel overwhelming and trigger a bad user experience.
- Ask for the users’ feedback only when needed. Requiring multiple times the users' feedback can feel like a burden and can influence a lower response rate followed by more negative feedback.
We at uinkits understand the importance of great user experiences and creating amazing UI designs. That’s why we’ve developed a Figma UI Kit with design components that include these essential UI elements that enable you to design intuitive and user-friendly interfaces effortlessly.
“You press the button, we do the rest,” – Kodak.
Inspired by this iconic tagline from Kodak, we believe in simplifying the design process for you. Our Figma UI Kit, uinkits, is a complete design system with UI components that allows you, as a UI UX designer, to create your products as quickly as pressing a button.
Our design system includes components, icons, variables, cards, buttons, and everything you need for your design process. All you have to do is take your UI design component needed, and you’re ready to use it in your designs!
