Introducing the New PC World Ratings System
Our new rating system gives readers a quick assessment of a product's overall quality, performance, features, and design.Ramon G. McLeod, Editor, PCWorld.com
Graphic by Chip Taylor
The PCW Ratings system replaces Star Ratings, and will supercede the older system in stages over the next few months. This month, as we switch to the new system, you'll see the new ratings as text in charts and reviews. Next month, icons similar in design to the picture to the left will begin appearing on the site.
The new rating system is part of a complete redesign and reengineering of PC World's reviews. Beginning in December, two new types of charts will appear on the site: ranked charts and sort-and-filter charts.
The new ranked and sort-and-filter charts on our site will be easier to read.
Both types will feature a new interface that we believe you will find easier to read and understand. Click on the image here to get a sneak peek.
Our ranked charts will continue PC World's long tradition of confidently ranking reviewed products based on our experience and analysis. However, we also want to let you rank charts in a manner that best suits your needs and criteria. That's where our sort-and-filter charts come in.
These new charts will be a list of all the products we've reviewed under our new rating system. In each category, you'll be able to sort and filter them with a variety of tools and according to your specific interest. Whether you're looking for a great buy on an older product or are interested in finding a product with a particular attribute that matters to you, you will be able to create your own, custom version of a PC World chart.
We'll have a lot more to say about the new-style charts next month.
The New Rating System
PC World's new ratings are the direct outcome of interviews and surveys of readers, who told us they wanted a system that made clearer the differences between similar products.
The research led us to develop a system that produces an overall PC World Rating based on four major components: features/specifications, performance, design/usability, and price.
There are five possible PC World Ratings assigned to a product:
Superior (90 to 100): The product or service is innovative, easy to use, and highly useful. It is among the very best in its category and is very highly recommended.
Very Good (80 to 89): The product or service is substantially better than most others of its type and is highly recommended.
Good (70 to 79): The product or service is solid and does what it's supposed to do, but it doesn't go beyond the expected characteristics of its category; it is recommended.
Fair (60 to 69): The product or service performs adequately but is somewhat flawed.
Poor (59 and lower): The product or service is seriously flawed and cannot be recommended.
The overall score is the composite of the scores that come out of each of the four major component areas we examine. Each of the components also receives a 0-to-100 score. Depending on where a component falls on the numeric scale, we also assign a word score.
Possible word scores for features/specifications, performance, and design/usability are Superior, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor.
Possible word scores for price are Very Expensive, Expensive, Average, Inexpensive, and Very Inexpensive.
Weighting the Ratings
We give the component scores in all product categories weights when we calculate the overall PCW Rating. The weights are based on PC World editors' expert knowledge of the products. We know, for example, that some products are highly price sensitive; for such products, we put more weight on their price score. In other categories, performance is the key criterion, and the weight we assign that component will be heavier than what we give to the other components.
All of the criteria we use to develop PC World Ratings and their component scores are based on the independent judgment of the PC World editorial staff and are subject to change over time, at PC World's discretion.
For a complete discussion of the new system, see "A Guide to PC World Ratings."
We think you'll find our new rating system a significant improvement over the old Star Rating system--but of course, you'll be the final judge. Let me know what you think by dropping me a line.