Explaining The Infatuation’s ratings scale
The Infatuation is known for honest, trustworthy reviews, but our ratings system wasn’t so clear.
Originally, users had to hover over the rating (inside a small yellow dot on the cover photo) to reveal what the number actually meant. The problem? Most people didn’t know they needed to hover.
Even worse, unrated spots—like bars or places that don’t serve full meals—were lumped into the 6 and below category, misleading users into thinking we didn’t like them. In reality, they just weren’t eligible for review.
It was confusing, misleading, and not user-friendly. Yikes.
The 10-point scale caused misinterpretations, too. A 7 felt like a C in school—a "meh" rating—when it actually meant pretty good in our system. Many assumed no rating for meant we hated it. That can really hurt a small business and mislead readers.
In speaking with Product, Design, and Editorial leadership, our Editor-in-Chief was firm: The 10-point scale wasn’t changing.
The challenge: Clarify the ratings and improve the UX without changing the system
My goals became:
✅ Spell out what each rating actually meant, while staying within the brand voice.
✅ Ensure users understood that unrated ≠ bad.
✅ Make this info easy to find—no more relying on hidden hover text.
Collaborating with Editorial leadership and my product designer, I:
Redefined each rating with clear, user-friendly explanations that matched our brand voice.
Added a visible, intuitive modal that lived on every review page—no hovering needed.
Co-created a ratings guide page with an FAQ section, so users could learn more about our review process and editorial point of view.
The results:
📈 A statistically significant engagement increase on pages with the module, versus without.
📊 Higher 14-day retention among new users who saw the module.
❤️ Improved trust, authority, and clarity—users finally got our ratings.
V1 revamp of the Ratings Guide
All the V2 ratings explained. See the video above for the live product.
Ratings guide explainer module on hover.
Ratings explainer module on review pages (no hover or click needed to surface this information).
Ratings FAQ and explainer page.
