Start with an outcome, not a model
A prototype answers whether an idea is possible. A product has to answer whether it is useful, repeatable, and safe enough for the people who rely on it. That difference starts with how the team defines success.
Choose one user task and describe the result in plain language. An onboarding assistant, for example, should help someone complete setup without having to search for an answer. Response quality alone does not tell you whether that happened.
Make quality a shared agreement
Collect examples of useful answers, borderline answers, and clear failures. Ask product, engineering, and domain experts to review the same examples before deciding what should block a release.
Keep the evaluation set small enough to understand and varied enough to expose meaningful weaknesses. A score is most valuable when the team can trace it back to the experience it represents.
Release in steps you can reverse
Start with an internal audience, then a small opt-in group. Set a clear owner for the rollout and a simple condition for pausing it. Shipping in smaller steps makes the next decision easier.
Bring user feedback back into the specification. The goal is not to finish evaluating your product; it is to make learning part of how the product ships.
