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Working Backwards Frederick Townes, CTO Mashable.com         WordCamp Denmark, 15.05.2010
Hi!Chief Technical Officer @ Mashable.com
 Founder @ W3-EDGE.com
 Founded @ W3-MARKUP.com
 Creator of W3 TOTAL CACHE
 Co-host of the WordPress Community PodcastIntroduction
Why work backwards? Address issues that make it difficult for users to interact with content
 Solve the largest issues first
 Rinse and repeatIntroduction
Discovery: Who has... Not spent a lot of time with WP yet?
 Developed WP themes and / or plugins?
 Uses WP to power their entire site?
 Used W3 Total Cache?
 Read Mashable.com before?
 No interest in seeing any code today?Introduction
What we thought we made…Introduction
What was actually delivered…Introduction
Overview Why performance matters
 Which factors can be controlled
 Measure results
 A look at common cases
 Discuss your questions and challengesIntroduction
User experience is key You have <6 seconds…
 Slow speeds cost you money, 500ms means a 20% traffic loss (Google)
 The more responsive the site, the lower the user’s learning curve
 The web is moving towards “real-time” interactivityWhy performance matters