foodha for thought – menuism blog

To help even more in the restaurant decision making process, we’ve added some Fun, but Optional survey questions to the review form to help users express even more information about their dining experience. Right now, we’ve got 3 questions around the areas of ambience, cost, and service. However, instead of taking the rating or score approach, we decided to phrase the questions in survey form – all you have to do it pick an answer. Here are the current questions and answers, along with a screenshot of the new form:

• Ambience: I came here for
  • a business meeting – more professional setting, somewhere you can talk and look respectable
  • a romantic date – a little on the quieter side with a more intimate setting
  • a family meal – pretty casual and you can bring your kids
  • fun with friends – a lively atmosphere that’s more accomodating to larger and louder groups
  • a meal on the go – not much of a dining atmosphere, either you come here just to eat or you get it to go
• Cost: My share of the meal was
  • Less than $10
  • Between $10 and $25
  • Between $25 and $50
  • More than $50
• Service: I tipped (or would have)
  • Less than 15% – subpar
  • Between 15% and 18% - average
  • More than 18% – better than expected

While the bucketed answers constrain you a little in choice, they offer a more descriptive answer than “Ambience:4 stars” or “Cost:5 stars” because those ratings are subjective. I might think $15 dollars deserves 5 stars for cost while someone else might think it’s 1 star.

Hopefully this additional information helps you both describe your experience more accurately and decide which places suit your needs. Let us know if you have any other ideas to improve the decision making process.

- Justin