Formative vs. Summative Evaluation: Improve vs. Judge
Formative evaluation improves a design in progress; summative evaluation judges a finished one. Use formative tests to find and fix flaws iteratively. Use summative tests to measure a shipped product against a benchmark, like a prior version or a competitor.
Formative evaluation improves a design in progress; summative evaluation judges a finished one. Think 'forming' the design vs. 'summarizing' its success. Formative tests happen iteratively during development to find and fix flaws. Summative tests happen after launch to measure performance (e.g., success rates, time on task) against a previous version or competitor, calculating ROI. The footgun is using summative metrics to find design flaws; that's what formative testing is for.
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