Best way to show a rating. Any specific reason behind using stars?

Question

If i want to show rating on a scale of 5 , what are the best ways/metrics to do this?

Things i found out so far.

Star is the most common mode of rating used - Is there any specific reason for this? Or is it just because of a convention?

Can we use a bar to show the rating? Something like this

Are there any existing guidelines regarding this ? Is star the best way of displaying a rating in a compact space?

What if there are multiple attributes for rating. That is more than one rating will appear together.

Answer 1

Star is the most common mode of rating used - Is there any specific reason for this? Or is it just because of a convention?

Well, there isn't any inherent meaning to a star symbol that relates it to a rating system (that I can think of). That means its use is a matter of convention. It is a convention that has existed for over a century: Wikipedia gives some examples of early use.

I wasn't able to find anything on the reason this character was selected, but my guess is that it was because of the limits of early 20th century typesetting/typewriters. There weren't that many symbols to choose from back then.

Having said that, don't overlook the importance of convention. While the initial reasons for the convention may have been arbitrary or long obsolete, that really doesn't matter. What does matter is that the convention is now widely recognized.

You don't have to use stars, but if you do, everyone will instantly recognize the stars as a rating. If you pick something else, you will have to work harder to make sure users understand it.