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Very clever. Have you considered making the slider non-linear (the distance on the slider between Yuck and Meh is smaller than between Good and Awesome)? If most people are going to rate their tea somewhere between Good and Awesome, it allows more of the slider to be used.

Have you received enough ratings with this new interface to know if my assumption of ratings being clustered is accurate?

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We haven't considered making it non-linear. It's an interesting suggestion, though I'd hesitate to go that way only because the user then lacks a clear 1:1 model of how the slider directly affects their rating (without explanation). We haven't received enough ratings yet to prove your assumption. When we do and if it does hold true, our assumption now is that we have _enough_ of a scale to expose meaningful differences.

You've given us good food for thought, thanks. My general feeling now is that I think it's important to leave the negative portion of the slider intact (however less it's used) to maintain a solid mental model. Might be something to test down the road though.

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