I still don’t think we need 5 star rating systems, or even thumbs down features.

It does nobody any good to rate software 2/5. It doesn’t help the developer and it gives one person too much power without any exchange of feedback.

Software teams have had to invent all sorts of mechanisms to prevent people from giving reactive reviews when we could be teaching them software is never a done deal.

IRL, we’re seeing shared taxi drivers put up signs saying literally, “please don’t be emotionally unstable bc it affects my income and my family.”

That’s too much power when they already have a default power: money.

Rating systems are the “thoughts & prayers” of software.

If you really care, that’s what the money is for. If you have anything to add, positive or negative, you put in the effort to do that within the proper constraints.

You know, because people aren’t your emotional windbags just because you have $5.

(If anything, the conversations between developers and users should be as free-flowing as possible; an ongoing conversation.

It’s the only way for us to juggle “software eating the world,” as we move forward.)

(If software development becomes faster, it means we can respond faster, and ship faster, and thus there’s no real reason why someone’s temporary opinion should have such a negative impact on your revenue.

They could simply not buy it.)

((What good did it do for that app to know people hated their new colour? It’s absurd to me that a bunch of grown adults will smash a keyboard over a chosen colour.

Did people really squish brochures back then? Why is this SO PERSONAL all of a sudden?))

(((Maybe they think it’s so personal because it’s on their body. It’s closer. Or maybe it’s because they think we’re nameless and general populace still doesn’t understand software. Or maybe it’s because we let them with zero boundaries.

Or maybe some of this. Or none.)))

((((Or maybe, just maybe, rating systems don’t actually resolve anything and are poor ways to provide curation in a noisy world.))))

(((((Maybe if the conversation was more like, “hey, what do you need mate?” And the machine could spit back, “this software seems best suited for that,” and that would be better than a wall of random strangers rating based on their poorly communicated personal values?)))))

I’m done now. Going to eat tacos.