Overview
How it works
The options appear when you tap the 'options' button (represented by the GEL 'more' icon) on a piece of recommended content. They appear in the following format:
- Textual feedback option
- Icon to the left of the option
The options are:
Don't recommend this: This is a negative feedback. Selecting it means the recommendation won't show up in your '…for you' section until you interact with the content positively again elsewhere on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã site.
I've already seen this/I've already watched this: This marks the content as played, it applies to TV and radio programmes as well as clips, but not tracks, playlists or artists. You may have watched the content offline and want a way to mark it as played so that it doesn't keep being recommended to you.
But what if you like the recommendation?
The 'add' toggle should be present on recommendations to offer a way of giving positive feedback on the recommendation. This will positively influence your recommendations in the future.
Surfacing better recommendations
Once a feedback option is selected, the recommendation should be replaced straight-away with a new one. We've found that receiving new, better recommendations is your main motivation to give feedback.
Provide a 'refresh' action
As well as providing feedback options, a 'refresh' action should be used (or a 'load more', when a page is dedicated to recommendations). This replaces all the recommendations in view with the new ones.
This also allows any recommendations that you've 'added' to positively influence the new recommendations being generated.
Provide a confirmation message
As well as providing a new recommendation, a confirmation message should be displayed to explain how your recommendations are affected.
See the table below for the confirmation message of each feedback option, depending on what content is being recommended:
| Don't recommend this | I've already watched/listened to this | |
|---|---|---|
| A series, episode, track, playlist or clip | Ok, we'll stop recommending this. [Undo] | Thank you. We'll remember that you've watched/listened to this. [Undo] |
| An artist | Ok, we'll stop recommending this artist & their tracks. [Undo] | N/A |
Provide an 'undo' action
You should also provide an 'undo' option, in case your user changes their mind.
Rules
Finding the feedback options
We always use the GEL 'more' icon as the Call To Action (CTA) for the feedback options.
Feedback on different types of recommendations
Depending on what's being recommended, selecting the feedback options have slightly different implications.
See the table below for the implications of each feedback option, depending on what content is being recommended:
| Don't recommend this | I've already watched/listened to this | |
|---|---|---|
| An entire series | The entire series or brand is negatively rated. It should not show up in your recommendations until you interact with it positively in the future. | We will remember that you've watched that series. |
| An episode in a series | If the TV or radio episode has a narrative arc to it, i.e. a drama like Poldark, then choosing 'Don't recommend this' will mean that the entire series or brand should be negatively rated. If the episode is not part of a narrative arc i.e. a documentary like Panorama, then it's just that episode which is negatively rated. Once negatively rated, that thing should not appear in your recommendations until you interact with it positively in the future. | We will remember that you've watched the episodes up until and including that one. Usually we only recommend the first episode. If you've already watched an episode in that series then it's more likely we will show it in your watching list rather than your recommendations. |
| An artist | That artist and that artist's tracks should be negatively rated. These should not show up in your recommendations until you interact with them positively in the future. | We should not give this option for this type of content. |
| A track, playlist or clip | That thing is negatively rated. This should not show up in your recommendations until you interact with it positively in the future. | We will remember that you've watched or listened to that thing. |
| Something you've previously added | We should not give this option for this type of content. | We will remember that you've watched it depending on what type of recommendation it is (see above). |
A note on recommending added things
If you've already added a TV series or episode, it's more likely to appear in your watching or added list rather than in your recommendations. However if there's a new series of a programme that you've previously added, you might see it in your recommendations.
If you've added an artist, track or playlist, then we may recommend you other tracks by that artist or a new playlist featuring their music - but we won't recommend that exact thing again.
The options are scannable
To increase the scannability of feedback options, there is an icon to the left of the options.
Variations
Consistency
The feedback options are designed to work on all types of content across the Ö÷²¥´óÐã. The feedback options across the Ö÷²¥´óÐã should always have the same meaning and implications to your data. Conflicting feedback options would impair the data that we store about you and make recommendations less accurate.
Note
Contact GEL and other products if you would like to introduce a new feedback option. The wording has been tested to ensure it's clear what each option will do. Changing the wording slightly can bring about misunderstandings of what will happen to your data.
Recommendations are usually presented within cards; this guide uses the card interaction pattern for demonstration purposes. However, if recommendations are presented in a different way, other interaction patterns can be used as long as the rules outlined here are adhered to.
For more details view the cards guideline.
The recommendations feedback pattern also works alongside other types of content utilities, such as 'add' and 'share'. For more details view the content utilities guideline.