Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

Web Performance Allies - PerfNow 2025

Avatar for Ethan Gardner Ethan Gardner
October 31, 2025
72

Web Performance Allies - PerfNow 2025

Avatar for Ethan Gardner

Ethan Gardner

October 31, 2025
Tweet

Transcript

  1. About Me • Full stack engineer and educator • Work

    experience in media, advertising, SaaS, and the public sector • ethangardner.com
  2. This talk is about… • The people side of web

    performance • Connecting performance to business metrics • Overcoming negative perceptions
  3. 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.
  4. Soft skill gaps in engineers 1 Communication 2 Teamwork 3

    Creativity & problem solving 4 Project management & organization 5 Documentation
  5. “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/
  6. 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
  7. 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?
  8. Current work vs. challenges • What are their biggest challenges?

    • What are they working on? Their Current Work Their Challenges You
  9. When to dig deeper Effectively loading ads without impacting page

    speed https://web.dev/articles/l oading-ads-page-speed
  10. Slow ads are not unique • Plenty of examples to

    draw from • Ads can cause hundreds of requests
  11. 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.
  12. Present a hypothesis We believe that ______________________ So if we

    ______________________ We will see ______________________ From: https://www.furthermore.co.uk/insights/hdd-canvas
  13. 4 outcomes • Partner A was removed • Ad ops

    saw us as an asset • No change in ad revenue • Increase in user engagement
  14. 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.”
  15. 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.”
  16. Using personal interests The time difference is greater than the

    gap between 1st and last place in the men’s 100m sprint. 🥇
  17. Using familiar analogies Field data: • Peer feedback • Performance

    reviews • Things you’ve noticed Lab data: • Surveys and self assessments
  18. 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.
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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.
  23. Reflection • Where did you end up? • Are you

    happy with progress? • Should you make a new plan and start the cycle again?
  24. Go make some allies! • Deliver on the soft skills

    • Find common ground • Prioritize high-impact improvements