Evaluation & Reporting Framework

Purpose

"Writing evaluations is a skill" - This skill provides comprehensive evaluation and reporting capabilities across all software development aspects:

1. Code Quality - Metrics, standards compliance, technical debt
2. Performance - Benchmarking, profiling, optimization analysis
3. Security - Vulnerability scoring, risk evaluation, compliance
4. Architecture - Design quality, scalability, maintainability
5. Team/Process - Velocity, efficiency, maturity
6. AI/LLM Outputs - Quality metrics, bias detection, accuracy
7. A/B Testing - Statistical significance, experiment reporting
8. ROI & Financial - Impact analysis, business value
9. Compliance - Regulatory compliance, standards adherence
10. Multi-Format Reporting - PDF, HTML, Markdown, interactive dashboards

When to Use This Skill

• Performance review and benchmarking
• Code quality assessment and technical debt analysis
• Security audit reporting
• Architecture review and design evaluation
• Sprint retrospectives and team velocity analysis
• AI model evaluation and comparison
• A/B test result analysis and decision-making
• ROI calculation for technology investments
• Compliance audit reporting (SOC2, HIPAA, GDPR)
• Executive reporting and stakeholder communication
• Quarterly/annual technical reviews
• Migration readiness assessments
• Vendor evaluation and tool comparison
• SLA compliance reporting
• Post-incident analysis reports

Quick Start: Essential Workflow

1. Define What You're Measuring

Before collecting data, establish clear metrics:

# Example: Code Quality Evaluation Dimensions
dimensions = {
    "maintainability": 0.30,     # 30% weight
    "reliability": 0.25,          # 25% weight
    "security": 0.25,             # 25% weight
    "testability": 0.20            # 20% weight
}

2. Collect Data

Gather data from tools and systems:

Automated: SonarQube, pytest, bandit, coverage tools
Manual: Reviews, surveys, audits
Historical: Previous baselines, trends

3. Score & Analyze

Apply consistent scoring to normalize data:

90-100: A (Excellent/Green)
80-89:  B (Good)
70-79:  C (Acceptable/Amber)
60-69:  D (Poor)
0-59:   F (Critical/Red)

4. Report & Recommend

Create reports with actionable recommendations:

Executive Summary (1-2 pages)
├── Key Finding (headline)
├── Metrics Table
├── Trend Analysis
└── Top 3 Recommendations

Detailed Analysis (5-10 pages)
├── Methodology
├── Detailed Metrics
├── Findings by Dimension
└── Prioritized Action Items

Core Concepts

Evaluation Framework Layers

The framework operates in 5 interconnected layers:

1. Define → 2. Collect → 3. Analyze → 4. Interpret → 5. Report

Each layer feeds into the next, creating a complete evaluation cycle.

Scoring Systems (Choose Appropriate Format)

• Numeric (0-100): Universal, mathematical
• Letter Grades (A-F): Familiar, easy to understand
• RAG Status: Red/Amber/Green for quick status
• Confidence Levels: High/Medium/Low
• Weighted Composite: Combine multiple metrics with priorities

Report Types & Audiences

Report Type	Audience	Length	Depth
Executive Summary	C-Level, Leadership	1-2 pages	High-level
Technical Deep-Dive	Engineers, Architects	5-10 pages	Detailed
Compliance Audit	Legal, Auditors	10-20 pages	Comprehensive
Dashboard	All Stakeholders	Interactive	Current + Trend
A/B Test Analysis	Product, Leadership	3-5 pages	Decision-focused

Implementation Patterns

Pattern 1: Code Quality Evaluation

Comprehensive assessment using 6 dimensions:

Metrics: Test coverage, complexity, duplication, security, documentation, performance

Workflow: Collect metrics → Calculate composite score → Grade by dimension → Generate report

Output: Multi-dimensional report with strengths, weaknesses, and prioritized improvements

See: /PATTERNS.md (Pattern 1: Code Quality Evaluation)

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Pattern 2: Performance Benchmarking

Statistical analysis of performance with baseline comparison:

Metrics: Latency (p50, p95, p99), throughput, error rate, resource usage

Workflow: Run benchmarks → Collect measurements → Compare to baseline → Analyze trends

Output: Performance comparison with regression detection and optimization recommendations

See: /PATTERNS.md (Pattern 2: Performance Benchmarking)

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Pattern 3: AI/LLM Output Evaluation

Multi-dimensional LLM output assessment:

Dimensions: Accuracy, relevance, coherence, completeness, safety

Workflow: Evaluate outputs → Calculate composite score → Identify patterns → Recommend actions

Output: LLM evaluation report for model selection and fine-tuning guidance

See: /PATTERNS.md (Pattern 3: AI/LLM Output Evaluation)

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Pattern 4: A/B Test Analysis

Statistical significance testing for experiments:

Method: Two-proportion z-test with confidence intervals

Workflow: Define variants → Run test → Calculate significance → Make recommendation

Decisions: SHIP IT / ROLLBACK / INCONCLUSIVE (run longer)

See: /PATTERNS.md (Pattern 4: A/B Test Analysis)

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Pattern 5: Multi-Format Report Generation

Professional reports in multiple output formats:

Formats: Markdown, HTML, JSON, PDF

Features: Dynamic styling, status colors, tables, charts, metadata

Workflow: Define sections → Add tables/content → Generate in multiple formats

See: /PATTERNS.md (Pattern 5: Multi-Format Report Generation)

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Common Gotchas & Pitfalls

Critical Mistakes to Avoid

1. Vanity Metrics - Measuring what looks good, not what drives decisions

• Solution: Focus on actionable metrics tied to business outcomes

2. Goodhart's Law - When measurement becomes target, ceases being good measure

• Solution: Use multiple metrics, avoid gaming, measure outcomes not outputs

3. Survivor Bias - Only analyzing success cases, ignoring failures

• Solution: Include all data points, especially failures and edge cases

4. Correlation ≠ Causation - Assuming relationships mean cause/effect

• Solution: Use controlled experiments, consider confounding factors

5. False Precision - Reporting numbers more precise than they are

• Solution: Use confidence intervals, round appropriately, state uncertainty

6. Context-Free Metrics - Numbers without context are meaningless

• Solution: Always include baselines, benchmarks, trends, narrative

See: /GOTCHAS.md for 15+ additional gotchas with detailed solutions

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Best Practices

DO's

1. Define Clear Metrics - Establish what you're measuring before collecting data
2. Use Multiple Dimensions - Single metrics can be misleading, use composite scores
3. Provide Context - Always include baselines, benchmarks, and trends
4. Visualize Data - Charts and graphs enhance understanding
5. Tailor to Audience - Executive summary for leadership, technical details for engineers
6. Automate Collection - Manual data gathering is error-prone and time-consuming
7. Include Confidence Intervals - Acknowledge uncertainty in measurements
8. Track Over Time - One-time snapshots miss trends and patterns
9. Make Actionable - Every metric should inform a decision
10. Validate Methodology - Peer review evaluation frameworks before deployment

DON'Ts

1. Don't Cherry-Pick Data - Include all relevant data points, not just favorable ones
2. Don't Ignore Statistical Significance - A difference isn't meaningful without significance
3. Don't Compare Apples to Oranges - Ensure fair comparisons
4. Don't Over-Optimize Single Metrics - Can lead to gaming and unintended consequences
5. Don't Skip Executive Summary - Not everyone will read full report
6. Don't Use Jargon - Explain technical terms for non-technical audiences
7. Don't Forget the "So What" - Always explain why metrics matter
8. Don't Report Without Recommendations - Analysis should lead to action
9. Don't Ignore Outliers - Investigate anomalies, they reveal important insights
10. Don't Create Reports Nobody Reads - Ensure reports are useful and consumed

Evaluation Frameworks

DORA Metrics (DevOps Performance)

Four metrics measuring software delivery capability:

• Deployment Frequency: How often you deploy to production
• Lead Time for Changes: Time from commit to production
• Mean Time to Recovery: Time to restore service after incident
• Change Failure Rate: % of deployments causing failures

SPACE Framework (Developer Productivity)

Five dimensions of developer productivity:

• Satisfaction & Well-being: Developer happiness and health
• Performance: Outcomes delivered
• Activity: Volume of work
• Communication & Collaboration: Team interaction quality
• Efficiency & Flow: Ability to work without interruption

Code Quality Metrics

Standard dimensions for code assessment:

• Cyclomatic Complexity: Code complexity (lower is better, <5 is excellent)
• Technical Debt Ratio: Effort to fix vs build new
• Code Coverage: % of code tested (80%+ is good, 90%+ is excellent)
• Code Duplication: % of duplicated code (<5% is excellent)
• Maintainability Index: Composite 0-100 metric (higher is better)

Knowledge Resources

Theory & Frameworks

See /KNOWLEDGE.md for:

• Evaluation framework layers and principles
• Scoring systems and normalization
• DORA, SPACE, and code quality frameworks
• Visualization best practices
• Complete external resource links

Reporting Templates & Examples

See /EXAMPLES.md for:

• Code quality report example (full template)
• Performance report example
• A/B test report example
• Executive summary template
• Real-world scenario walk-throughs

Common Issues & Solutions

See /GOTCHAS.md for:

• Metric selection pitfalls (vanity metrics, Goodhart's Law)
• Data collection problems (bias, correlation)
• Analysis mistakes (false precision, confirmation bias)
• Reporting errors (unclear recommendations, jargon)
• Audience communication issues

Implementation Patterns

See /PATTERNS.md for:

• Code quality evaluation (6 dimensions, scoring, reporting)
• Performance benchmarking (statistical analysis, baseline comparison)
• AI/LLM evaluation (5 dimensions, composite scoring)
• A/B test analysis (z-test, significance, decision rules)
• Multi-format report generation (Markdown, HTML, JSON, PDF)

Templates & Catalogs

See /REFERENCE.md for:

• Format references (Markdown, HTML, JSON, PDF)
• Template library (1-page, 5-page, comparative, compliance)
• Metrics catalog (performance, code quality, team, security)
• Report checklists (pre-report, during analysis, pre-distribution)

Related Skills

• gap-analysis-framework - Identify gaps before evaluation
• security-scanning-suite - Security-specific evaluation
• codebase-onboarding-analyzer - Code quality assessment
• architecture-evaluation-framework - Architecture evaluation
• ai-evaluation-suite - AI/LLM specific evaluation

External References

• DORA Metrics - DevOps Research and Assessment
• SPACE Framework - Developer productivity metrics
• SonarQube Metrics - Code quality definitions
• Lighthouse Scoring - Web performance evaluation
• A/B Testing Guide - Experiment design
• Statistical Significance - Understanding p-values
• CVSS Scoring - Security vulnerability scoring
• Grafana Documentation - Dashboard creation

Progressive Disclosure

This skill uses a progressive disclosure pattern for comprehensive coverage:

• SKILL.md (this file, <500 lines): Quick start, essential patterns, key best practices
• PATTERNS.md (400+ lines): Complete implementation patterns with Python code examples
• KNOWLEDGE.md (310+ lines): Scoring systems, frameworks, visualization principles
• GOTCHAS.md (350+ lines): 15+ common mistakes with solutions
• EXAMPLES.md (425+ lines): Real reports, templates, decision scenarios
• REFERENCE.md (390+ lines): Format templates, metrics catalog, checklists

Start with this file, dive into PATTERNS for implementation, reference KNOWLEDGE for theory, and consult GOTCHAS/EXAMPLES/REFERENCE as needed.

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SKILL.md Line Count: 439 lines Complete Framework: 2,314 lines across 6 files Coverage: 10 major evaluation categories, 5 implementation patterns, 30+ code examples