Question
Can I change a rating scale that is already in use? What should I expect?
Answer
You can change a rating scale at any time but the impact depends on the type of change you make.
Changing from emojis to numbers
This is only a visual change and will not impact your dashboard statistics. When the metrics are calculated, emojis are converted into numeric values so the dashboard will remain unchanged.
Deactivating the skip-categories option
The skip option lets reviewers omit ratings for non-applicable categories, registering them a "N/A." If you disable this, reviewers must rate all categories going forward and they cannot amend past ratings unless they rate each category. Allowing reviewers to skip a category that they couldn't before will not impact historical data.
Changing the rating scale
Shifting from one scale to another, for example from a 2-point scale to a 5-point scale, creates a new system since the two scales are incompatible for direct comparison. There are a few things to consider if you change your rating scale:
- All previous categories will be deactivated.
- Previous reviews using the former scale stay intact, but the categories will be archived and will not show up on the dashboard unless unarchived.
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You will be prompted to create new categories or use the one-click auto-creation to clone your existing categories.
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If you look at a timeframe that includes both rating scales, you will see the archived AND the new rating categories, side by side. If this looks confusing, try narrowing down the time range to only catch the period before or after the change.
When changing your rating scale, you will receive the following warning message:
It is a best practice to only change the rating scale when absolutely necessary in order to ensure consistent data. If you need to use varied scales, create a separate workspace. However, remember that you cannot directly compare workspaces in the same dashboard.