Version: 2017-01-17
In this task, you will research two mobile apps and evaluate whether the second app is a good recommendation for a user who has already expressed interest in the first app within the Google Play store.
How to rate this task
Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the context app.
You already know about the idea of user intent, and how a query can be researched to understand what a user is seeking and what will satisfy them. In this task, what you know about the user is that the user is definitely interested in the context app. They have intentionally visited the details page for this app within the Google Play store, and may have even just installed it. Research the app to understand its purpose and features, and imagine how users would be satisfied by it.
Click the button labeled “research context app” to open the app’s Google Play page, then review its content. You should consider all the information available to you in order to inform your understanding of the app, including the text that describes the app, the star rating, any relevant comments from users, and even your overall impression of how professional and trustworthy the app looks. Some additional notes:
- Do not download the app.
- The Play Store page may include some additional content, such as links to other parts of the Play Store, or lists of “Similar” mobile apps. Please ignore this and only focus on the content that is related to the main app on the page.
- You may, however, follow links and do additional research outside of the Play Store if it helps you understand the app.
Unrateable Apps
If the Play Store page or the app it describes is in a foreign language, is incomprehensible, or otherwise can’t be rated, select the “Unrateable app” flag and submit the task.
Personal Knowledge of Apps
If you’ve personally installed and used the app, or believe you have additional knowledge about the app that would affect your ratings in this task, select the flag labeled “I am personally familiar with this app.” You will still be required to complete the task.
Step 2: Familiarize yourself with the recommended app.
Click the button labeled “research recommended app” to open the recommended app’s Play store page. Like you did for the context app, you should consider all the information available to you in order to inform your understanding of the app, including the text that describes the app, the star rating, any relevant comments from users, and your overall impression of how professional and trustworthy the app looks.
Refer back to the additional notes in Step 1 for more details on how to research a mobile app, and what to do if you encounter an unrateable app.
Step 3: Answer the following question: Would installing and using the recommended app satisfy the user?
A fully satisfying app recommendation is one that enhances the experience that the user originally sought out the context app for. Consider the features of the two apps and the relationships between the kinds of tasks that they are designed for. For example, a gaming app is designed to entertain, so it’s likely that any other gaming app will be entertaining for the user.
There are many reasons why the user might be interested in the recommended app, so use your best judgment when providing a rating. For example, imagine that the user has shown interest in the Alaska Airlines app. Recommendations that would likely satisfy the user include:
- Quality apps that offer similar functionality (or are competitors) such as the United app or the American Airlines app.
- Quality apps that complement the purpose of the context app, like the Hilton HHonors app or a Mobile Passport app. Either of these would be useful to a user who has shown interest in apps related to travel.
Updated: 2017-01-17
You can also assume that users would be satisfied by apps that appeal to similar interests. For example, a user who has shown interest in the Scrabble app would likely be satisfied by recommendations for other games that provide entertainment.
- Game apps that complement the purpose of the context app, e.g. any other gaming app that offers entertainment to the user like the Bejeweled app or Mortal Kombat X, even though these games do not involve the wordplay in Scrabble.
Taking these factors into consideration, select a rating from [-100] to [100] to indicate how satisfied a user who is interested in the context app would be, if they were to install and use the recommended app.
| Rating | Description |
| Dissatisfaction Likely | The recommended app is irrelevant to the context app and/or of obviously bad quality. A user interested in the context app would gain no benefits from installing the recommended app. It’s a terrible recommendation. |
| Dissatisfaction Possible | Installing and using the app is unlikely to benefit the user. It’s not obvious that the app is something that the user would be interested in, and/or it appears to be of low quality. It’s a mediocre to poor recommendation. |
| Satisfaction Possible | Installing and using the app might enhance the experience that the user originally sought out the context app for. The app appears to be of generally good quality, and has some features that would appeal to the user, based on their interest in the context app. It’s a solid recommendation. |
| Satisfaction Likely | Installing and using the app would definitely enhance the experience that the user originally sought out the context app for. The app appears to be of high quality, and its features would prove useful or interesting to the user, based on their interest in the context app. It’s an excellent recommendation. |
If you have questions about this project that are not answered by the instructions above, please review the Rater Hub first, which contains additional content about rating. If you encounter a technical problem with this rating task, use the “Report A Problem” link in the lower-right hand corner of the rating page.
