Santiago has been the marketer and site manager for FixMyCar.com for the past 15 years. He and the developer team have spent much effort improving the user enjoyment of the site. Recently, performance metrics are showing the speed of the site has regressed significantly over time. Which long-term maintenance program can help by limiting certain metrics that affect performance?

Analysis of Correct Answer(s)

A performance budget is the most appropriate long-term maintenance program for this scenario. It is a proactive strategy designed to prevent the gradual decline of site speed over time.

• Core Concept: A performance budget sets explicit limits or "budgets" on key metrics that affect site performance. These can include:
  • Total page size (e.g., under 1.5 MB).
  • Time to Interactive (TTI) (e.g., under 5 seconds on a 3G connection).
  • The number of HTTP requests.
  • The size of specific assets like images or JavaScript files.
• Function: By establishing these constraints, the development team is required to ensure that any new features or changes do not cause the site to exceed its budget. This directly addresses the problem of performance regressing over time by enforcing a standard of speed and efficiency.

Analysis of Incorrect Options

• Performance maintenance team: This refers to the people responsible for the work, not the specific program or methodology they would use to limit performance metrics. A team would implement a performance budget, but they are not the budget itself.
• Long-term performance audit: An audit is a reactive process. It involves periodically reviewing the site to identify existing performance issues. It is a diagnostic tool, not a preventative framework that enforces limits during development.
• Independent testing program: This is a method of validation, often done by a third party. While useful for getting an objective measure of performance, it doesn't serve as an ongoing, internal guideline to prevent performance degradation in the first place.