Improving human-reviews interaction: a study of the role, use, and place of online reviews

The use and benefits of online reviews are undeniable, yet the interaction means available for buyers when consulting reviews remain limited. This study aims to provide a better understanding of the role and use of online reviews, presenting a set of design ideas for designing user interfaces that better support online buyers in consulting reviews. Drawing on interviews with active online review users, we describe the main role reviews play in their purchase decisions online and offline, the strategies they use for making sense of the ever growing number of reviews, and the characteristics they associate with a usable online review. We present the relevant characteristics of a reviewer’s portrait, and identify the role online reviews play in the broader landscape of e-commerce together with other similar tools such as forums or product specifications.