Well, my home airport is often ranked at the top of many surveys within the industry and by customers.. and it's a good airport, so I tend to use it as my bar for comparison when thinking about the quality of an airport.

Home airport is TPA - just for reference. I have a flight in a few days out of MCO and i'm -not- really happy about it.

Taking into consideration why I'm not happy to be flying out of MCO and not TPA...

Convenience of Getting In/Out/Through - Tampa's airside/landside system works wonderfully for moving people efficiently. Security is as painless as possible, and the TSA are generally rather polite. At MCO I'm facing a bit of a cluster at the security checkpoint, and parking there is an absolute hot mess with the overpriced on-site lots and the not-at-all convenient offsite lots.

Wait Experience - Waiting is a big part of travel. You end up waiting whether you want to or not, short of having a magic teleportation system. At TPA you're in well designed area with modern touches - very sleek and polished/clean. Also access to amenities that are worthwhile, and they intentionally give young children something to do other than annoy business pax. MCO is sort of ugly, dirty, loud, and there's screaming children just lumped into the gate holding areas (TPA as play areas partitioned by soundproofed glass walls.)

Pride - It's not my biggest factor of course, but that the people at the airport have pride in their workplace plays a role. Dirty and grimy airports that resemble an inner-city bus terminal is not my idea of luxurious travel. To me there's always been this mystique of flight and I feel the airport - even if older - should be kept up to continue that idea. It's like with trains, you can be on an restored antique train for the scenic ride.. or a clunky commuter train with gum on the floor. I think all airports should strive to be have that majestic feeling. TPA is meticulously clean and TPA's tasteful large art installations reflect this in theme. Bronze statues of notable figures from air history and paintings of the golden age really sell the idea.

So, that's how I judge airports. Dirty floors, cramped areas, confusing access/transportation, and a complete lack of pride by the workers will result in a poor rating.