Long post ahead - and I'm soliciting your feedback.
I'm toying with the idea of changing how we review and score products at CoffeeGeek.
Here's our current baseline:
90-100 Best in class
85-89.9 Very Recommended
80-84.9 Recommended
75-79.9 Good Product
70-74.9 Acceptable
Under 70: Not Recommended
Here's the new structure my team and I discussed. We settled in on "Benchmark" and "Exceptional" to replace the "Best in Class" segment.
95-100: Benchmark. A truly category-defining product that sets a new industry standard. This score is reserved for items that we believe will remain top-of-the-class for years to come.
90-94.9: Exceptional. A top-tier product that demonstrates clear superiority over its competition. While not a benchmark setter, it is an unequivocal leader in its class and a definitive "best buy".
85-89.9: Highly Recommended. An excellent, high-performing product with very few, if any, minor drawbacks. A confident purchase you are unlikely to regret.
80-84.9: Recommended. A solid and reliable product that performs its job well and represents a good value.
75-79.9: Good, with Caveats. A competent product that works, but has notable compromises in usability, features, or build quality that should be considered.
70-74.9: Functional, but Flawed. While the product operates as intended, it has significant issues that detract from the overall experience.
Under 70: Not Recommended. We do not recommend purchasing this product due to critical flaws.
It will be a bit messy changing historical reviews, so I may leave them alone; I worry about confusion between the old and new. But I am liking the new structure I discussed with my team. It still gives us the headroom we want (reserving anything 95 points or higher for exceptionally rare products), keeps our "best in class" still reserved for 90-95pts, and is still very kind for products scoring in the 80-90 range.
What do you think? I'd love to get your thoughts.
