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Gulf of execution and evaluation 0:49
A 49-second explainer of Gulf of execution and evaluation, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Gulf of execution and evaluation demo
What this video covers
Two gaps sit between a person and a system. The gulf of execution is the distance between what you want to do and figuring out how to do it - "I know my goal, but how do I make this thing do it?". The gulf of evaluation is the distance between the system acting and you understanding what happened - "I did something, but did it work?". Good design narrows both; bad design leaves you stranded on either side.
With the gulfs wide, you were stuck twice over - unsure how to do the thing, then unsure if it had worked. Narrow them and the friction vanishes: the control says "press me", and the feedback says "done". Same task; the difference is whether the design bridges the gaps or leaves you stranded on both sides of them.
