The evaluation process typically matures in stages as the product evolves.

Stage 1 — Vibe checks

  • The first application version usually gets evaluated informally: try it out, look at the outputs, decide if you like them — what the community calls vibe checks 1:40.
  • Limitation: not systematic 1:40.

Stage 2 — Manual labeling / annotation

  • A more formal review process: you or someone on your team grades responses and systematically decides if they're good or bad 1:59.
  • Best practice: add annotations explaining each decision — they later help you design better metrics 1:59.
  • Limitation: doesn't scale — you can't grade every response every time, so you need an automated way of labeling responses 2:14.

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