Feature launched: Feedback Improvements

The use of our feedback system is growing rapidly. Furthermore, the providers that are getting top scores are growing as a percent of the feedacks received. You can see the oConomy feedback stats as of today. The graph displays all feedbacks given in oDesk for assignments that were ended this year. Keep in mind that our feedback system has been introduced less than 6 months ago.

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1. We decided to expose the fact that a person has decided to keep their feedback as private. Before the viewer could not tell the difference between a missing feedback and a feedback that was kept private. We applied this change symmetrically for both the provider assignment history in the provider profile as well as the buyer history in the opening profile. We have seen in many cases that providers do not actively manage the visibility of the comments. For example in the screensnap above the provider has opted to keep private the comment for an assignment with top score (4.65) and left public a less positive comment. We hope that the additional transparency will guide our users to keep comments public while still giving them option to act as a moderator for the content in their profile.
2. We are now including the number of feedbacks given to a particular user. The feedback score is an aggregate metric : it is the weighted (by hrs) average of all provided feedback scores. However, when displayed in isolation, the viewer cannot tell whether the score is the result a single successful assignment or the aggregate of a long history of solid work record. We now include in parenthesis next to the feedback the number of assignments that resulted in a feedback in the follow web pages:
   1. provider profile - quick facts, affiliate facts
   2. affiliate profile - quick facts,
   3. provider search lister
3. We allow the user to sort providers based on the # of feedbacks received so far (Total Feedback)