Traditional performance tests typically involve calling endpoints to execute specific actions and measuring metrics like request and response times, error rates, etc. Traditional performance tests are essential for identifying technical issues while perceived performance testing takes a user-centric approach, ensuring that the application not only performs well technically but also delivers a positive and seamless experience for end users.

Exploring Perceived Performance Tests

Perceived Performance Testing focuses on the user’s experience and perception of a software application’s performance. It’s crucial because it goes beyond technical metrics, addressing how users interact and perceive the application’s responsiveness and usability. This testing ensures that the software not only functions well but also feels fast and responsive to users, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction and retention.

Google Lighthouse: A Tool for Perceived Performance Testing

One invaluable tool in this domain is Google Lighthouse.

Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages. You can run it against any web page, public or requiring authentication. It has audits for performance, accessibility, progressive web apps, SEO, and more.”

Accessible through Chrome’s Dev Tools or executable via the command line, Lighthouse stands out for its command-line functionality. This particular feature allows seamless integration into scripts, enabling specific actions and multiple testing iterations, thus facilitating automation within your web application.

Lighthouse combines multiple measurements to determine the overall application score. Running via the command line gives you the ability to generate a JSON file with all of the tests Lighthouse runs. You can then determine which are important to you and your needs.

We will provide a future write-up on how to run Lighthouse via the command line.

Curious to hear your thoughts! Let’s ensure quality together by sharing your insights.

More on Lighthouse

More on Lighthouse performance scoring