{"schemaVersion":"1.0.0","id":"measure-before-you-optimize","slug":"measure-before-you-optimize","title":"Measure before you optimize","description":"A browser performance research plan that starts with a real interaction and ends with evidence.","category":"Experiments","tags":["Performance","Browser","Measurement"],"date":"2026-09-29","updated":"2026-09-29","author":"PlainNerd editorial","readTime":3,"illustrationKind":"browser","status":"published","evidenceStatus":"research-plan","locale":"en","originalLocale":"en","content":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Research plan. These experiments have not been run; no measured results are claimed."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Pick the moment that matters"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"For an editorial site, a meaningful question is how quickly a reader can open an article and begin reading. For an editor, it may be how long typing takes to appear. Define one scenario, including the device, network conditions, and starting page."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Capture a baseline"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Record the application revision and test environment. Keep navigation timing, resource observations, and the visible result together. Repeat the scenario before drawing conclusions: an isolated run can reflect background activity or a warm cache."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Change one thing"}]},{"type":"bulletList","content":[{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Choose a hypothesis tied to an observed delay."}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Apply one bounded change and keep the baseline revision available."}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Repeat the same scenario with the same measurement method."}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Inspect visual stability and interaction behavior as well as duration."}]}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"A smaller asset is only a useful improvement if it helps the actual reading experience without introducing a regression."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Report uncertainty"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"This is a proposed measurement procedure. We have not collected timings or compared deployments. A future report should publish the raw observations, run conditions, and any cases excluded from analysis."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"MDN: Performance APIs","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Performance_API"}}]}]}]}}