How to Survive the Single-Page App-ocalypse

When Single Page Apps (SPAs) started becoming a standard approach for web applications around five years ago, it seemed like web-based products had a way to rival the interactivity and performance of corresponding native apps.

Modern browsers are incredibly capable, and open-source tools and frameworks promise to put slick web apps within reach of even the smallest teams.

And yet many product teams are already struggling with the SPA they have. They can be slow, buggy, hard to use and extremely resistant to change. The kind of thing that can kill a business. What happened?

In this talk, I explore some home truths about developing and maintaining SPAs in small- and medium-sized companies, and suggest some approaches technology leaders can take to haul their own products out of the mire. Spoiler: most of the challenges are not technical.

Transcript

1. HOW TO SURVIVE THE SINGLE PAGE APP–OCALYPSE Jim Newbery
 @froots101
2. SINGLE PAGE APPS DAMAGE BUSINESSES* * Thank you for listening to my controversial premise Some > CAN > CERTAIN >
3. Application-like experience Dynamic in-page updates API-driven data sources Client-side routing and history Static asset bundling @froots101
4. CRUD* *Create, Read, Update, Destroy
5. @froots101
7. CHALLENGES TO SURVIVAL 1 @froots101
8. Easy to make Hard to make good Extremely hard to make 
 good, simple, fast and maintainable @froots101
9. WARNING
 Anecdotal evidence
10. Ooh, shiny! Waste Great UX and performance Complexity ‘Traditional’ app SPA @froots101
11. “It’s the tools!” @froots101
13. Visibility Time Technology trigger Peak of inflated expectations Trough of disillusionment Slope of enlightenment Plateau of productivity This isn’t working @froots101
14. Visibility Time @froots101
15. “This time it’ll be different” @froots101
16. Optimising for the
 developer experience @froots101
17. 2 @froots101
18. Frameworks don’t make apps Teams make apps very
 im portant @froots101
19. Things to learn about before big tech changes: Product vision Alignment Communication and psychological safety Skills and capabilities Development practices What the damned thing actually does @froots101
20. A rewrite encourages forgetting @froots101
21. A rework requires learning @froots101
22. Extract simpler apps Actual 
 tech advice @froots101
23. Eliminate waste @froots101
24. What’s the simplest way to sustainably add and maintain user value? @froots101
25. Learn together how to live with your product @froots101
26. THANKS! Jim Newbery
 tinnedfruit.com
 @froots101