Performance
Core Web Vitals: Field Notes
The handful of changes that moved real-world performance the most, and the ones that looked good in Lighthouse but did nothing.
Apr 16, 20261 min read
Lighthouse is a lab. Your users are the field. I have learned to optimize for the field score and let the lab number follow, not the other way around.
What actually moved the needle
- Self-hosting fonts with
font-display: swapand preloading the above-the-fold ones. - Sizing images and reserving space so layout never shifts as they load.
- Server rendering the first view so content paints before JavaScript arrives.
Building something in this space?
I take on select builds when the work is worth doing right.