Simon Hearne is a web performance and user experience advocate focused on building faster, more accessible websites. He writes and speaks about performance optimization, UX, accessibility, and data visualisation.
54 articles from this blog
A wrap-up of Velocity NY 2016, covering trends in Real User Monitoring (RUM), synthetic monitoring, and the importance of WebPageTest for web performance.
Explains why Chrome is inefficient for blocking third-party requests in WebPageTest and recommends using Internet Explorer for accurate performance impact analysis.
Explains how rotating carousels, ads, and popups distort web performance metrics like Speed Index and offers a technical fix using WebPageTest's activity timeout.
Highlights from Render Conf 2016 covering web technologies, including Progressive Web Apps, meaningful animation, and front-end testing tools.
A consultant explains a method for prioritizing website speed improvements based on user impact and implementation difficulty.
A review of top talks from Velocity Europe 2015, focusing on the Physical Web and operations expertise in tech.
A guide to detecting and measuring webpage jank (poor scrolling performance) using a custom JavaScript bookmarklet and browser developer tools.
Analyzing how Modernizr's feature detection can cause performance issues by blocking the main thread and triggering costly reflows.
Explores upcoming web performance technologies like HTTP/2, HTTPS, and the shift away from Flash, with a timeline for adoption.
A guide on evaluating third-party scripts for web performance, security, and user experience, including a checklist of critical questions.
Explains how to use Content Security Policy (CSP) HTTP headers to mitigate risks from third-party scripts on websites.
A developer explores creating a web performance heatmap to visualize when specific page elements render, building a proof-of-concept tool for analysis.
A guide to identifying and analyzing third-party assets on websites using a custom tool, focusing on performance impact and management.
A concise guide to modern web performance optimization, outlining key technical recommendations for improving site speed and user experience.
