Rating & Review - Some Suggestions for Designing UX/UI for the Evaluation System

From the user's psychological perspective

Human beings are inherently social creatures. We, the corporeal beings, have a desire and need to be accepted within a group, which is an essential part of our behavior. And to have others accept us in a group, we need to adhere to similar patterns of behavior. The concept of Social Validation indicates that when a product is recommended by friends or relatives, consumers tend to trust that choice without needing to delve deeper. This emphasizes the importance of reviews and comments in building customer trust. It can be said that this is a powerful marketing tool for your product to gain the trust of customers.

The impact of Reviews on E-commerce

When users complete their orders, we will send an email containing order information along with suggestions to review the quality of products and services. Why should we do this?

Because it is not only a marketing strategy but also a valuable data collection tool for businesses. You can find out whether customers are satisfied with your products or not, and what makes them feel satisfied. And if they are not satisfied, this gives you the opportunity to rectify the issues to improve service, which is crucial for retaining loyal customers. Furthermore, satisfied customers are not only likely to return but also tend to recommend the product to friends, creating a positive loop for the brand.

So what is the best way to improve the review and rating system? How can brands use its power to retain current customers and persuade potential customers? Let’s explore the following article!

1. Send reviews and ratings via Email after successful purchase

Instead of waiting for users to search for their orders or purchased products, send a review request via email and direct users to your store to leave a review. It is important to keep your review request email stand out from the crowd. In today’s fast-changing world, our attention span is affected by many other marketing channels. Here are some considerations we apply to improve the product review request emails.

• Brand-consistent email interface: Brand consistency is crucial for the success of all marketing activities because it helps you build brand awareness and establish trust between customers and the brand.

• Keep the layout simple: A simple design does not mean a shabby design — it is about how you optimize your design according to your wishes, especially when you design content in a limited space like email. Try not to overwhelm customers with too many elements in your email.

• Keep the message concise, engaging, and personalized: A concise and engaging message greatly contributes to the success of your marketing campaign. Start your email with a friendly greeting and get straight to the point of why your customer is receiving this email.

2. Encourage customers to review products

You appreciate and review your current customers to create a positive impact for new customers in the future.

Provide your customers with some motivation to leave reviews. But wait, there are some clarifications needed here, you do not bribe customers to receive good reviews. That’s not good, it’s unethical and can make everything messy contrary to your initial intention. Instead, you simply create motivation for them to leave reviews.

Again, keep in mind to encourage customers to leave “Reviews”; not “Good Reviews”. You hope customers will leave good reviews, but you should not manipulate customers when you are encouraging them.

In fact, you should also consider the possibility that your product may receive negative reviews. The rating system from 1–5 stars (commonly used in E-commerce) will help users easily leave their opinions about a specific item. Offering incentives can improve the product review experience; if customers feel satisfied, they are likely to leave more positive reviews.

3. Provide a summary interface of product reviews

Users rely on summary information to get a comprehensive picture of the reviewed product. After checking, they may choose a few reviews to read in more depth.

Not providing a user interface that displays rating distribution can mislead users in two different ways:

1. If users only see overwhelmingly positive reviews on the first page of the reviews section, they sometimes speculate that those reviews are fake.
   
   

2. If users see most of the negative reviews displayed first, they assume the product is rated well, while in reality, it is the opposite.

In both cases, the end result is that users misunderstand product reviews, leading them to dismiss products they perceive as “not transparent” and looking for more trustworthy products and services. Having a review summary at the top of the reviews section can help users grasp more about the product at a glance. This can include:

• Focus on service, quality, and product information… or any other features related to the product.

• Most popular or helpful reviews and negative reviews. When visiting the reviews section, many will look for the most negative reviews to learn about the product's shortcomings. When you provide this information upfront, you save users' time.

• Rating system from 1–5 stars.

4. Allow users to filter and sort reviews

Allow users to filter and sort reviews. Ensure that these filters are easily found and recognized on the page. Search filters, such as “Newest”, “Most Liked”, or “Purchased” ensure that users can easily find relevant reviews.

Conclusion

Reviews and comments are important tools not just in building trust but also in providing valuable information for both customers and businesses. To make the most of this, ensure that the reviews are trustworthy and easily accessible and presented clearly. Designing a user-friendly interface will facilitate customers in making smarter shopping decisions. We hope this article helps you design a more effective review and comment system!