Web Performance Allies - PerfNow 2025

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Transcript

1. Web Performance Allies Ethan Gardner
2. About Me • Full stack engineer and educator • Work experience in media, advertising, SaaS, and the public sector • ethangardner.com
3. This talk is about… • The people side of web performance • Connecting performance to business metrics • Overcoming negative perceptions
4. “You’re our largest client by far.”
5. Client relations Marketing Engineering I’ll get all kinds of features into the roadmap. Think of the case studies they’ll write about us too! I’m concerned about their ability to scale and the edge cases we might encounter. I’ll get priority customer service and quicker issue resolution.
6. Wishlist
7. Soft skill gaps in engineers 1 Communication 2 Teamwork 3 Creativity & problem solving 4 Project management & organization 5 Documentation
8. How you say things matters
9. Think like a [marketer, executive, salesperson, etc.] Engineering Marketing User Engineering Marketing User VS
10. Marketing opens new doors. Performance keeps them open.
11. Search for common ground
12. “If we can't measure it, how can we improve it?” Andy Davies’ session description on LoAF Making your message heard “If you can’t measure it, you can’t prove if it’s working.” https://www.reddit.com/r/marketing/comments/1jixdwz/commen t/mjnatch/
13. Sometimes “it” is easy UX Research Web Performance Time-on-task Many time-based metrics like TTFB, FCP, LCP, INP, etc. User error rate Metrics for UI stability and how quickly a UI responds to user interaction
14. When “it” isn’t easy, have a conversation Business & Job-related Challenges Personal Interests
15. Get-to-know-you questions • Has there been friction working with engineering in the past? • What gets them excited? • What are their interests and hobbies?
16. Silly example
17. The early days
18. Who are the competitors?
19. Product competition • Make a report • Qualitative rankings or a graded system helps.
20. 3 immediate outcomes • Executive buy-in • Marketing became a teammate • Secured a budget
21. Build on your success. Keep conversations going.
22. Current work vs. challenges • What are their biggest challenges? • What are they working on? Their Current Work Their Challenges You
23. Go shopping for ideas
24. Correlating performance to business metrics • Specific journeys in the sales funnel • Important metrics
25. When to dig deeper Effectively loading ads without impacting page speed https://web.dev/articles/l oading-ads-page-speed
26. Slow ads are not unique • Plenty of examples to draw from • Ads can cause hundreds of requests
27. Problem statement: advertising partners When ads take too long to load, they hold up the rest of the page and make the site feel unresponsive. That slow down frustrates users, reduces engagement, and means fewer ad views and conversions.
28. Present a hypothesis We believe that ______________________ So if we ______________________ We will see ______________________ From: https://www.furthermore.co.uk/insights/hdd-canvas
30. 4 outcomes • Partner A was removed • Ad ops saw us as an asset • No change in ad revenue • Increase in user engagement
31. Info for skeptics
32. Acknowledgement and differentiation “[I realize that it might seem like nerd speak, but] performance metrics are stand-ins for how a customer sees our product, how quickly they can act, and how smooth the journey feels. Speed can be a product differentiator.”
33. What users are saying about slow sites
34. What users are saying about slow sites
35. Required reading
36. Milliseconds make millions, but they don’t make sense.
37. 👏👏👏👏
38. Be the interpreter “Our INP went from 370ms to 160ms.” “Before, users were tapping buttons in frustration and waiting for feedback. Now, they get a smoother experience that’s over 50% faster.”
39. Using personal interests The time difference is greater than the gap between 1st and last place in the men’s 100m sprint. 🥇
40. Explaining metrics: INP
41. Other strategies
42. What’s interesting about this?
43. Call attention to it
44. Charts and graphs tell stories
45. Call attention to the important parts
46. Provide guidance Document what constitutes a good third-party vs. a bad one.
47. Working agreements • Handling disagreements • Parameters of the relationship • Expectations • When to reevaluate
48. Next steps
49. Using familiar analogies Field data: • Peer feedback • Performance reviews • Things you’ve noticed Lab data: • Surveys and self assessments
50. Field data: feedback and observations • Focuses on constraints and feasibility instead of shared outcomes. • Conversations feel transactional rather than collaborative. • Strategic decisions move forward without my input.
51. Lab data: character strengths https://www.viacharacter .org/surveys/takesurvey
52. 24 total traits. My top 5.
53. Diagnosis: interpreting data • Where are the opportunities to build allies? • What is situationally appropriate? • Could a specific soft skill be part of the solution? • Understand why things are the way they are
54. Growth area: teamwork
55. I will improve my relationship with the product team by initiating regular check-ins, aligning on shared goals, and demonstrating openness to their feedback within the next three months. The plan
56. Remember me?
57. Find real-world examples • CONTRIBUTING.md files on GitHub • “How We Work” repos
58. What stood out from TC39 Collaborate early and publicly Before writing code, clarify pain points, objectives, and your intent for feedback Be empathetic Phrase disagreements as questions, not assertions Be a contributor Share ideas in ways that align with group goals
59. Before After How can we work together to make sure this approach scales smoothly and handles the edge cases we care about? I’m concerned about their ability to scale and the edge cases we might encounter.
60. Reflection • Where did you end up? • Are you happy with progress? • Should you make a new plan and start the cycle again?
61. Communication
62. Prepare for common scenarios • What comes up repeatedly? • Script responses • Refine over time
63. 150 pages of gold • Tips for succinct communication • Storytelling
64. Recommended reading • How to say “no” • Working with difficult people
65. Go make some allies! • Deliver on the soft skills • Find common ground • Prioritize high-impact improvements