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How are reviewers selected?

Former Member

What kind of criteria is used for selecting who is going to review what product?

 

It is just a random selection or do the applications actually get reviewed and selected?

 

Are past reviews taken into consideration? For example if two people where in the running for an item, one person wrote a good detailed review of the last item they received while the other either didn't write a review of there last item or just wrote up a basic thank you and "this is what I got" kind of review. Would the person known for writing a good review be selected of the other?

 

I'm just looking to get a feel for how important it is for Element 14 to have good quality reviews of these products. I see in many cases where only 2 or 3 reviews are published for the 5 to 10 kits that where sent out. Do people get removed form the Road Test group if they receive a kit and never write a review or do they just get black listed from receiving any future kits?

 

Thanks for your time!

Parents

  • Hi Guys.

     

    Thanks for posting your questions about RoadTest. My team manages the process, and I'm happy to explain how we select winners.

     

    First, it is not 100% random. We look at a few factors to narrow the list down, including--

     

    • The reason you enter when applying. This is a critical piece for us. We find that people who really put some serious thought in describing what they plan to build with the product tend to actually come back after getting it and post their review. This is really important for us, as the rest of our community here loves to see detailed reviews.
    • Has the applicant recently won another RoadTest? If so, we will probably not select them right away as we want to give others a chance to participate.
    • Related to the above point, did the applicant win in the past and not post a review? That's a big strike against being selected again. Sending top products to members of our community for free and not getting a review back hinders our ability to obtain great products in the future, since our manufacturer partners also want to get detailed feedback on their products.
    • Did the applicant give us his/her complete shipping information? Sounds like an obvious one, but you would be surprised. :-)
    • Does the applicant work in an area of engineering that makes him/her particularly well-suited to review the product in question? This is where having a complete user profile can help make the difference.
    • Is the applicant active on element14? If so, it increases the odds that he or she will follow-up after receiving their product by posting a review. We select new members, but tend to favor people who ask questions, participate in discussions, etc.

     

     

    Most of our criteria are based on increasing the chance of getting a detailed product review back from our winners. The list above is culled from our experience managing RoadTest, and is designed to increase the benefits to our community by selecting winners who will follow through.

     

    I hope this sheds some light on the process; please let me know if you have any questions.

     

    And thanks for being such an awesome community! image

     

    Sagar Jethani

    Head of Content

    element14

  • in reply to bluescreen

    Thanks for the reply and incite into the selection process. I was recently selected for the Agilent U1272A HH DMM and U1177A Bluetooth Adapter. I wasn't as active in the community prior to being selected but have since become much more active. I've been looking through past Road Tests and reviews and noticed the low average of reviews to number of kits that where sent out. So I was curious to know how people where selected and what happened to those who never write a review. I also found it odd that I was chosen to review the Agillent DMM. As I mention in my review it was odd because the Road Test was looking for applicants with an Android device. I didn't see that till after I had submitted my application. Since I don't have an Android device I figured I was out of the running from the start.

     

    I don't like to apply for everything cause I don't have the skills or the experience to be a good review candidate for every item. The IMO iSmart is a good example of an item I wouldn't even know where to start in reviewing. Now that I know what your looking for I'll be even more focused on how I'll review the item and putting together a more comprehensive application on items I am able to work with.

     

    Thanks again.

Reply
  • in reply to bluescreen

    Thanks for the reply and incite into the selection process. I was recently selected for the Agilent U1272A HH DMM and U1177A Bluetooth Adapter. I wasn't as active in the community prior to being selected but have since become much more active. I've been looking through past Road Tests and reviews and noticed the low average of reviews to number of kits that where sent out. So I was curious to know how people where selected and what happened to those who never write a review. I also found it odd that I was chosen to review the Agillent DMM. As I mention in my review it was odd because the Road Test was looking for applicants with an Android device. I didn't see that till after I had submitted my application. Since I don't have an Android device I figured I was out of the running from the start.

     

    I don't like to apply for everything cause I don't have the skills or the experience to be a good review candidate for every item. The IMO iSmart is a good example of an item I wouldn't even know where to start in reviewing. Now that I know what your looking for I'll be even more focused on how I'll review the item and putting together a more comprehensive application on items I am able to work with.

     

    Thanks again.

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