Ways to evaluate a position? I was wondering if the only way to evaluate a position is by looking for next moves like a chess engine does.

Is it possible with only a static evaluation of the board to get a correct evaluation about which side has the best position?
Evaluate without calculating.


Source: The wisest things ever said about chess by GM Soltis

So yes, we should evaluate a position before selecting candidate moves and calculating concrete variations. Considering whether the opponent's king is safe will help you decide whether you should look for a mate in N type move, which is very different to capitalising on a space advantage.

From Tune your chess tactics antenna: know when (and where!) to look for winning combinations by Emmanuel Neiman, he recommends the following steps to selecting a move.


Global vision: think of this as walking past a game and your first impression being 'white is winning' or 'it's about equal'
Analysis of the position: This is where you look at king safety, material, space etc.
Looking for the theme: is there the potential for a pin, fork, back rank mate etc. in the position?
Looking for candidate moves: based on steps 1-3, generate a small list of candidate moves (usually 2 or 3)
Calculation of variations: work out the candidate moves as far as you can, and evaluate that final position


I would argue that steps 1-3 fall into the category of evaluating a position without looking ahead.