About Contest Ratings

Hi... DC members... i just wondering.. in the contest you entered... then you submit your design... 1, 2, 3 till 7 designs, but the CH didn't give you and any other designers some feedback / ratings / nor comment... till They get a winner... and just the winner who get the feedback.

what do you think about this case...

this is not how it's supposed to work - we encourage our clients to provide feedback to all designers who participate in their contests. But we cannot make them do it. So it happens sometimes that in spite of our encouragements clients still don't provide much feedback and I am afraid we cannot do much about that.
However I should say that this kind of clients is in the minority and most of contest holders do provide feedback and rate designs.

yes resurepus... i thougth that it's not supposed to work... but... i've found 1, 2 or more contest that CH never give any feedback unless they got a winner! i think the CH don't know how it supposed to work.

I speak with almost all if not all of the contest holders. I have found that many of the ones that do not rate an entry is so the designers come up with something not directed by themselves with rating. They have told me they do not want to rate so the designers do not start following the highest rated designs.

One thing I have noticed with the contest holders that do not rate is....they do not know themselves what they want They have an idea and can put that in a brief (sometimes good brief sometimes not a good brief) but when it comes to the actual design they are lost with what they want.

I'm not saying this is right or wrong way to run a contest. I encourage the contestholder to rate and give feedback, but in the end it is the contestholders contest and design they are paying for. I will always continue to encourage the rating and tell them that is the best way to get the most designs and best quality!

IDEA FOR IMPROVEMENT IN RATINGS GIVEN BY CONTEST HOLDER:

OK, so I noticed a trend lately in numerous logo contests, where the contest holder is rating entries with 1 (one) point only. Seems like they rate many designs with 1 point, 0 point (or they just eliminate an entry). As a designer, I know it takes quite a bit of time to develop and design a logo, and since designers ranks are based on points ratings, seems like a lot of work for just a lonely 1 point out of 100.

Obviously it is up to the CH to manage their own contest however it works best for them. Is there a new stipulation for contest holders regarding the 1 point rating system? Not complaining...just wondering... I'm guessing they are giving 1 point on designs they like or somewhat like as a placeholder to come back later and rate? Sometimes, the CH never rates higher than 1 point?

Wonder if there should be a scale presented to all contest holders when they sign up with DC for design work which gives a guideline regarding ratings (like grades in school?) - which would help them gauge and rate designs?

100-81 = A: likes concept/meeting expectations - design is a contender
80-61 = B: likes concept/meeting expectations - design needs minor revisions
60-41 = C: likes concept, design could use some work
40-21 = D: likes concept, not sure how to improve design
20-11 = F: likes elements - not sure how to improve design
10-1 = design is not what is in mind/heading in wrong direction

Of course scale could be fine-tuned, but in the end, I think it will help CH as well as designer.

Also, not sure what kind of a programming nightmare this would be, but wonder if ratings provided could only be seen by each designer on their own individual entry. The CH would be able see all of their ratings. Other designers would not be able to see ratings (just their own). It would basically be a blind contest, but the entries would not be blind. It would promote creativity and eliminate 'copy-cat' contests with designers copying the highest rated entry.

Just a thought..

I like PaintedPony's idea. But the only problem with it that I can see is that it could get a little confusing for the Contest Holder or for the Designer. And only because there would be a lot of different meanings for each letter. But other then that it's a good idea.

Hey there Squewheet~ I was thinking the CH wouldn't actually post the 'letter grade' (I think the A-F idea could just be eliminated), but the CH could just post the numerical rating according to how a design rated to the 'numerical scale'. I hope that makes sense? Maybe the numerical scale could be a guideline presented to the Contest Holder when they initially sign up? I think it would help a CH gauge what they like.

100-81 = likes concept/meeting expectations - design is a contender
80-61 = likes concept/meeting expectations - design needs minor revisions
60-41 = likes concept, design could use some work
40-21 = likes concept, not sure how to improve design
20-11 = likes a few elements in design (font or color) - not sure how to improve design
10-1 = design is not what is in mind/heading in wrong direction
0 = wrong direction - don't like at all - (eeek! :/ LOL!) This design would be eliminated

I think that would be a great idea. They could make it so that if you scroll over your ratings it would show the definition that the contest holder choose for the design. Below is a image of what I am talking about.

 ideaconcept.jpg   75.86KB   533 downloads

I think that is a great idea Squewheet. I think it would eliminate a lot of confusion for both the CH and the designer.
Right now, one CH's 25 rating in their contest is very different from another CH's 75 rating in their contest, but both those ratings could be considered a 'winning' design.

The rating scale could standardize ratings. All contests could be/would be rated equally using this numerical rating system.
As it is now, some contests rate a 90 as awesome design, some rate a 25 as awesome design, some rate a 25 as a 'not so good' design.
Rating system would eliminate that.

PaintedPony, Squewheet, this is what I like! If a designer sees a problem he comes up with a specific solution!
This is definitely something we will consider for the next update.

10-1 = design is not what is in mind/heading in wrong direction

I think this is about what CHs mean when they rate designs from 1 to 10.

But overall idea with text hints is excellent.

I love the text hint idea

Awesome - thanks resurepus! I think it will really help alleviate some confusion for contest holders when giving ratings and designers will know more of a direction to take in providing and revising designs.

I think it would be great to have this implemented. I think there should be some preset options for a CH to choose but there could be a other option button to click and then they can type in there own personal message for the designer. But it be limited to a 150 character kind like how twitter messages are.

I Like the Rating & text hint idea given by PaintedPony & Squewheet
It will give a better idea to all the designer that what actually CH want or think about the design.
great idea...
Hope we will get something about this from DC team....

They have told me they do not want to rate so the designers do not start following the highest rated designs.

I thing maybe with the "blind contest" for default option can be works? so the other designer not to start to following the highest rated designs, and it could be meet an original work. And CH can start to rate a designs.

We have more and more contestholders using the "blind" option in the end though it is the ch that has to choose this option

Wow great ideea with text hint next to rating bars.. I think it will work!

We have more and more contestholders using the "blind" option in the end though it is the ch that has to choose this option

Hey Sharie~ What if the contest wasn't blind, but just the ratings are blind? Everyone will be able to see each other's entries (but not ratings), and only each designer will be able to see their individual ratings for their entry so they know how they stand. The CH would of course be able to see everyone's ratings that they have given. I think it would promote more creativity as designers would not just check out the highest rated design. After the contest has ended and medals are awarded, all ratings would become visible at that point. Not sure what kind of programming nightmare that would cause though?? But just a thought...

We have more and more contestholders using the "blind" option in the end though it is the ch that has to choose this option

I mean No option to choose "blind", but "blind" for default options and the contest start with "blind" automatically, so a designer cannot see each other designer entry's.

What if the contest wasn't blind, but just the ratings are blind? Everyone will be able to see each other's entries (but not ratings), and only each designer will be able to see their individual ratings for their entry so they know how they stand.

This is a great idea, but I think everyone still can see who is the highest rated, it's can do with 'sort by: rating'. I think this idea can be works if that query options ( sort by: ) are removed.