The intent was to communicate one piece of information without confusion: where on the measurement spectrum the item fits relative to others in its group. As opposed to delivering as much information as possible, for which there are more nuanced systems.
Most things I am rating do not have a uniform distribution, I tried to follow a normal distribution because it would fit the greater majority of cases. We lose information and make assumptions when we measure data on the wrong distribution, did you fit to uniform by volume or by value? It was another source of confusion.
As mentioned, this method did fail. I changed my methods to saying 'better than 90% of the items in its grouping' and had moderate success. While solving the uniform/normal/Chi-squared distribution problem it is still too long winded for my tastes.
Most things I am rating do not have a uniform distribution
The distribution of your ratings does not need to follow the distribution of what you are rating. For maximum information your (integer) rating should point to a quantile -- e.g. if you're rating on a 1-10 scale your rating should match the decile into which the thing being rated falls. And if your ratings correspond to quantiles, the ratings themselves are uniformly distributed.
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