Speed as a Signal

Speed is a message: “you matter here.” We measure it, but users feel it first. The work is twofold: make the page fast, and make it feel fast — honestly.

Perception beats physics

• Meaningful paint first: prioritize above-the-fold content; defer noncritical scripts.
• Cause + ETA: when waiting, explain what’s happening and how long (~bounded ranges calm).
• Progressive reveal: stream HTML and hydrate progressively; skeletons should map to real layout.

Metrics that matter

• LCP (largest contentful paint): biggest above-the-fold element paints ≤2.5s on good networks.
• INP (interaction to next paint): end-to-end responsiveness under ~200ms feels instant.
• CLS (cumulative layout shift): stabilize dimensions (images, ads, embeds) with explicit sizes.

Delivery tactics (front end)

• Preconnect critical origins early (<link rel="preconnect" href="https://cdn.example">).
• Priority hints for hero media (fetchpriority="high", as on preload).
• Defer & async noncritical JS; split routes; hydrate islands, not pages.
• Use content-visibility:auto for long pages; it postpones off-screen rendering.
• Lazy-load images (loading="lazy", decoding="async"), but not the hero.

Delivery tactics (server & network)

• TTFB budget: keep initial response lean; stream HTML chunks (flush head, then body islands).
• Edge cache HTML for anon traffic; cache API reads; stale-while-revalidate for speed + freshness.
• Compress smart: Brotli for text; AVIF/WEBP for images; set width-aware srcset + sizes.

Make it feel fast (honestly)

• Optimistic UI when safe (idempotent actions); immediately reflect change and reconcile on confirm.
• Disable jank: avoid layout-thrashing JS; batch DOM writes; prefer CSS transforms for motion.
• Keep focus: never steal scroll or focus without warning; respect reduced motion and save state.

Clarity compounds. Every honest interaction makes the next one faster.

30-minute speed audit

1. Record a slow-3G + mid-tier device trace; note LCP element and first interaction path.
2. Inline critical CSS for above-the-fold; defer the rest; add preconnect to top 2 origins.
3. Convert hero media to AVIF/WEBP; add fetchpriority="high" to the LCP resource.
4. Mark all third-party JS as async/defer; remove at least one tag that doesn’t earn its keep.
5. Add skeletons mapped to real layout + cause/ETA messaging to slow flows.

At Logically Incorporated, we ship speed with taste: honest cues, predictable motion, and ruthless prioritization. The result reads as empathy — in milliseconds.

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