Performance regressions after redesigns: how to prevent surprises

Short answer: Benchmark before and after redesigns on the same URLs—new visuals often add weight, scripts, and fonts that tank metrics silently.

NZ agencies sometimes ship beautiful Figma exports that score poorly without field testing.

Prevention process

• Define budgets and Core Web Vitals targets in the brief.
• Run synthetic and field tests on staging with production-like content.
• Block launch if critical templates regress without a mitigation plan.

After launch

Monitor Search Console and RUM for two weeks; roll back heavy assets if needed.

Communication

Explain to stakeholders that beauty without performance costs leads—trade-offs should be explicit.

Frequently asked questions