As a developer in the Shopify ecosystem, achieving and maintaining the “Built for Shopify” badge is a significant milestone. It’s a symbol of quality, trust, and adherence to best practices. However, one particular requirement for this badge—the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) metric—has proven to be a challenging and often frustrating aspect for many of us.
The LCP Metric: A Double-Edged Sword
The LCP metric measures how long it takes for the largest content element on a page to become visible within the viewport. While it’s intended to ensure fast and smooth user experiences, its current implementation as a requirement for the Built for Shopify badge is, quite frankly, broken.
Lack of Resources and Clarity
One of the most significant issues is the lack of comprehensive resources on how to keep LCP low. Shopify provides guidelines on various aspects of app development, but when it comes to LCP, the documentation is sparse. This leaves developers in the dark, struggling to understand and improve a metric that is crucial for their app’s success.
Limited Control Over LCP
It’s important to note that LCP isn’t entirely within our control. Various external factors, such as a user’s internet connection, device performance, and third-party scripts, can significantly impact LCP. This makes it a guessing game for developers, who can spend countless hours optimizing their apps only to see minimal improvement due to factors beyond their control.
Inconsistent and Unclear Warnings
The 30-day warning system for LCP improvement is another area of concern. Developers receive a warning if their app’s LCP exceeds the threshold, threatening the loss of the Built for Shopify badge. However, this system lacks transparency and consistency. For instance, I received a warning about my LCP exceeding the limit, only to find it back below 2.5 seconds without making any performance improvements. This inconsistency leaves developers bewildered and unsure about the effectiveness of their optimizations.
The Paradox of the 30-Day Period
Adding to the confusion is the fact that the LCP metric is measured over a 30-day period. When you receive a 30-day warning, it implies that you don’t actually have a genuine opportunity to fix the issue before potentially losing the badge. This paradox undermines the purpose of the warning and leaves developers feeling powerless and frustrated.
The Need for a Holistic Evaluation
While the intent behind focusing on LCP is to ensure a better user experience, making the Built for Shopify badge so dependent on a single metric is flawed. The badge is supposed to reflect an app’s overall quality, user experience, and adherence to best practices. However, the current system disregards the extensive work developers put into other crucial aspects of their apps, such as user experience design, functionality, and support.
Moving Forward: A Call for Better Support and Evaluation
To truly support developers and uphold the quality standards of the Shopify ecosystem, it’s essential to address these issues:
- Provide Comprehensive Resources: Shopify should offer detailed guides and resources to help developers understand and improve their LCP metrics effectively.
- Consider External Factors: Recognize that developers have limited control over some aspects affecting LCP and adjust the evaluation criteria accordingly.
- Improve Warning System Transparency: Ensure that the 30-day warning system is clear, consistent, and genuinely provides developers with an opportunity to make meaningful improvements.
- Adopt a Holistic Evaluation Approach: Evaluate apps based on a combination of metrics and qualitative factors, ensuring that the Built for Shopify badge truly reflects overall app quality and user experience.
In conclusion, while the LCP metric aims to enhance user experiences, its current implementation as a requirement for the Built for Shopify badge needs re-evaluation. By addressing these challenges, Shopify can better support developers and maintain the high standards that the badge represents.