A presentation at performance.now() in in Amsterdam, Netherlands by Tim Kadlec
Stubbo n Empathy r Tim Kadlec @tkadlec.bsky.social linkedin.com/in/tkadlec/
Stubbo n Empathy r Tim Kadlec @tkadlec.bsky.social linkedin.com/in/tkadlec/
The monoculture & the machine.
r r r It’s our job to make sure that they have a great user expe ience…. r “ And then finally, and I think most impo tantly, is that for me, front-end enginee ing comes down to suppo ting users.
“ r r …We want to have stubbo n empathy for what they need, and what they want, and what they’re going through — what can we do to make all that better?
…We want to have stubbo r r stubbo n empathy
…We want to have stubbo empathy r r stubbo
r The monoculture stubbo & the machine.
r The monoculture stubbo The monoculture & the machine.
The localhost delusion.
Cross-browser testing is an act of user advocacy.
144
229
230
P75 INP (desktop only) 88ms 120ms
P75 LCP (desktop only) 2.26s 1.86s
r Measurement difference? stubbo
r r Oppo tunity? stubbo
fl https://github.com/cloud are/telescope
Cross-browser support Packet level network throttling Custom cookies Custom headers Filmstrip images HTTP Auth Video recording CPU Throttling Har generation Block requests Paint Timing Block domains User Timing Firefox preferences Resource Timing Chromium ags fl Navigation Timing
The monoculture The machine & the machine.
The monoculture & the machine.
The monoculture & the machine. AI Slop.
r Favors generation time stubbo over lifetime quality.
increase in average PR size r + 154% stubbo
increase in PR review time r + 91% stubbo
increase in bugs per developer r + 9% stubbo
r The machine operates on abstraction without stubbo accountability.
r r We are the stubbo use ‘s line of defense.
The monoculture Agentic web. & the machine.
The monoculture & the machine.
A The little monoculture lopsided, isn’t & theit? machine.
The monoculture & the machine.
We Thecan monoculture do better. & the machine.
The monoculture & the machine. How efficiently & enjoyably can users accomplish the tasks they set out to complete?
The monoculture Uncompromising quality and the pursuit of delight. & the machine.
r The monoculture Stubbo n Empathy. & the machine.
Thank you Tim Kadlec @tkadlec.bsky.social linkedin.com/in/tkadlec/
One of the most important roles we play on the web is as the users line of defense, which requires that we demonstrate stubborn empathy on their behalf. Unfortunately, that concept is all too easy to fade away, particularly in the wake of two underlying threats to web performance, and the web at large—the monoculture and the machine.
This talk explores the risks we face, and how to counter them by putting the user first.
for free. You
can too.