Interaction to Next Paint (INP) has officially joined the ranks of Core Web Vitals, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of webpage performance evaluation. As of March 12, 2024, INP has been established as a stable metric, replacing First Input Delay (FID) to provide a more comprehensive assessment of user experience responsiveness.
Introduced as an experimental metric by the Chrome Team in 2022, INP has undergone rigorous testing and refinement based on feedback from the developer community. Its elevation to a Core Web Vital underscores its readiness to address the limitations of FID in accurately measuring responsiveness to user interactions.
While pioneering upon its introduction in 2020, FID focused solely on the delay experienced during the initial user interaction with a webpage. However, this approach only partially captured the responsiveness throughout the user's entire interaction with the page. INP, on the other hand, considers all interactions and reports the slowest response over the page's lifespan, providing a more accurate reflection of user-perceived responsiveness.
The transition of INP from an experimental metric to a Core Web Vital reflects Chrome's commitment to continual improvement in webpage performance evaluation. Site owners and developers are encouraged to leverage INP optimization strategies to ensure a seamless transition.
Good INP values are typically 200 milliseconds or less, while values exceeding 500 milliseconds indicate room for improvement. Resources such as the INP optimization guide offer valuable insights into effectively identifying and addressing INP issues.
Chrome's suite of tools has already incorporated INP metrics, and FID support is slated for deprecation by September 2024. This timeline allows developers ample time to adjust their applications and APIs accordingly, minimizing service disruptions.
The integration of INP as a Core Web Vital represents a collaborative effort to elevate the standard of user experience on the web. By embracing this metric and implementing optimization strategies, developers can contribute to a more responsive and user-friendly online environment.
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