1. A method of assessing a person's personal taste, comprising: causing an electronic device to output a user interface to a person; receiving, via the user interface, a rating set comprising the person's ratings for each of a plurality of rated consumable items, wherein at least a portion of the received ratings comprise item ratings rather than ratings of item characteristics; and by one or more processors, developing a preference model for the person based on the received ratings by: accessing a database comprising values of characteristics for a plurality of candidate consumable items, identifying the candidate consumable items in the database that correspond to the rated consumable items, using the received item ratings and the values of characteristics for the candidate consumable items in the database that correspond to the rated consumable items to determine the preference model.
1. A method of assessing a person's personal taste, comprising: causing an electronic device to output a user interface to a person; receiving, via the user interface, a rating set comprising the person's ratings for each of a plurality of rated consumable items, wherein at least a portion of the received ratings comprise item ratings rather than ratings of item characteristics; and by one or more processors, developing a preference model for the person based on the received ratings by: accessing a database comprising values of characteristics for a plurality of candidate consumable items, identifying the candidate consumable items in the database that correspond to the rated consumable items, using the received item ratings and the values of characteristics for the candidate consumable items in the database that correspond to the rated consumable items to determine the preference model. 9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: generating an experience score for the preference model so that the experience score comprises a function of the rated consumable items in the preference model; determining that the experience score is below a threshold; accessing the database to identify at least one consumable item that exhibits characteristics that, if the consumable item is rated by the person, will improve the person's preference model or a preference profile for the person; and generating a suggestion that the person rate the identified consumable item.