Hi <<First Name>>,
Welcome to our last Speed Matters edition of 2025! There's lots of juicy research and resources for you to dig into below, but first, an exciting announcement:
If you haven't already heard the news, I’m excited to share that SpeedCurve was recently acquired by Embrace, a leader in user-focused observability. We’re combining forces to connect performance, reliability, and user experience across both web and mobile apps!
If you're a SpeedCurve user, our tools and team remain the same. Our founder, Mark Zeman, explains why this acquisition is a huge evolutionary step for the web performance and observability landscape. You can join our fireside chat on December 9th to learn more.
Team SpeedCurve!
L to R: Steve Souders, Andy Davies, Andy Biggs, Joseph Wynn, Elena Kay, Cliff Crocker, me, and Mark Zeman
Moving along, here's what you can find below:
- Answers to the question "How fast is fast enough?"
- Does Interaction to Next Paint really matter?
- A better way to quantify user happiness
- How to optimize SVGs
- A complete guide to HTTP caching
- How to think outside the framework box
If you have any questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you.
Until next month (and next year!),
Tammy
@tammyeverts.com
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How fast is fast enough?
In the early days of front-end performance, we were idealists. Our goal was to create online experiences that were so fast they felt seamless... and dare I say, even magical. In recent years, "fast enough" has come to mean optimizing solely for ROI.
In my keynote at performance.now() in October, I challenged the false choice between magic and pragmatism. Instead, we should aim to create user experiences that are “pragmagical” — blending user delight with measurable business impact.
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Does Interaction to Next Paint matter?
- Users who experienced 'good' INP had a 25% better conversion rate than users experiencing poor INP
- Users experiencing 'poor' INP were more likely to bounce or express frustration via rage clicks or multiple interactions.
Learn more: Understand and improve INP
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How to optimize SVG files: A complete guide for beginners
SVGs are an easy way to boost performance, but only if they’re properly optimized. Laura Kalbag covers everything you should know about using SVG files to make your projects shine and give your users the best experience possible.
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A complete guide to HTTP caching
As Jono Alderson explains:
"Caching is the invisible backbone of the web. It’s what makes sites feel fast, reliable, and affordable to run. Done well, it slashes latency, reduces server load, and allows even fragile infrastructure to withstand sudden spikes in demand. Done poorly – or ignored entirely – it leaves websites slow, fragile, and expensive."
Learn how to design and deploy a caching strategy that makes your sites faster, cheaper, and more reliable.
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Simplify
This post is a good reminder from Jeremy Keith that we don't need to overthink everything: "There’s something very, very satisfying in finding a simple solution to something you thought would be complicated."
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Escape velocity: Break free from framework gravity
Frameworks like React solve some problems, but create others. Den Odell explains that the solution isn't necessarily to abandon your framework, but to remember that it runs inside the web, not the other way around.
What's the long-term benefit to you of treating React as an implementation detail rather than an identity? Longevity. As Den says: "A React app that respects the platform can outlast React itself."
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Contribute to the 2025 Web Performance Calendar
This marks the seventeenth year that Stoyan Stefanov has published the Web Performance Calendar! Every December since 2009, Stoyan calls for submissions from the entire performance community to share their research, personal projects, and best practices, with the aim of publishing a new post every day.
Check out the 2024 calendar >
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In case you missed it...
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