Signs it is time to revisit lazy loading

It comes up on almost every project, usually later than it should. A few signals that lazy loading is due some attention.

Speed is a feature people notice only in its absence, and then they leave rather than complain. Budget a little time for it every quarter and it never becomes a project of its own.

The signals

• Nobody can say when it was last reviewed
• The answer depends on who you ask
• Only load what is about to be seen
• Never lazy-load the main hero image

How we handle it

Always reserve the space so nothing jumps. It is worth being explicit about, because assumptions differ quietly. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.

What this looks like day to day

Performance work is mostly subtraction, which makes it unpopular and effective. Three things worth confirming about lazy loading before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Never lazy-load the main hero image — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

Pick the one that would hurt most if it failed, and start there.