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3 days ago
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About Me • Full stack engineer and educator • Work
experience in media, advertising, SaaS, and the public sector • ethangardner.com
This talk is about… • The people side of web
performance • Connecting performance to business metrics • Overcoming negative perceptions
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.
Soft skill gaps in engineers 1 Communication 2 Teamwork 3
Creativity & problem solving 4 Project management & organization 5 Documentation
Think like a [marketer, executive, salesperson, etc.] Engineering Marketing User
Engineering Marketing User VS
“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/
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
When “it” isn’t easy, have a conversation Business & Job-related
Challenges Personal Interests
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?
Product competition • Make a report • Qualitative rankings or
a graded system helps.
3 immediate outcomes • Executive buy-in • Marketing became a
teammate • Secured a budget
Current work vs. challenges • What are their biggest challenges?
• What are they working on? Their Current Work Their Challenges You
Correlating performance to business metrics • Specific journeys in the
sales funnel • Important metrics
When to dig deeper Effectively loading ads without impacting page
speed https://web.dev/articles/l oading-ads-page-speed
Slow ads are not unique • Plenty of examples to
draw from • Ads can cause hundreds of requests
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.
Present a hypothesis We believe that ______________________ So if we
______________________ We will see ______________________ From: https://www.furthermore.co.uk/insights/hdd-canvas
4 outcomes • Partner A was removed • Ad ops
saw us as an asset • No change in ad revenue • Increase in user engagement
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.”
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.”
Using personal interests The time difference is greater than the
gap between 1st and last place in the men’s 100m sprint. 🥇
Working agreements • Handling disagreements • Parameters of the relationship
• Expectations • When to reevaluate
Using familiar analogies Field data: • Peer feedback • Performance
reviews • Things you’ve noticed Lab data: • Surveys and self assessments
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.
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
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
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
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.
Reflection • Where did you end up? • Are you
happy with progress? • Should you make a new plan and start the cycle again?
Prepare for common scenarios • What comes up repeatedly? •
Script responses • Refine over time
Recommended reading • How to say “no” • Working with
difficult people
Go make some allies! • Deliver on the soft skills
• Find common ground • Prioritize high-impact improvements
![Think like a [marketer, executive, salesperson, etc.] Engineering Marketing User](https://files.speakerdeck.com/presentations/04c4a560c9854454aca1c36b26a7324f/slide_8.jpg){kind=link}
