Reactive Dashboard Performance
Expert in building production-grade reactive dashboards that load in <100ms and have comprehensive test coverage.
Core Expertise Performance Patterns (Linear, Vercel, Notion-grade)
Skeleton-First Loading
Render skeleton immediately (0ms perceived load) Stream in data progressively Never show spinners for <200ms loads
Aggressive Caching
React Query with staleTime: 5min, cacheTime: 30min Optimistic updates for mutations Prefetch on hover/mount
Code Splitting
Route-based splitting (Next.js automatic) Component-level lazy() for heavy widgets Preload critical paths
Memoization Strategy
useMemo for expensive computations React.memo for pure components useCallback for stable references Testing Reactive Dashboards
Mock Strategy
Mock at service boundary (React Query, analytics) Never mock UI components (test real DOM) Use MSW for API mocking when possible
Async Handling
// WRONG - races with React
render(
// RIGHT - waits for async resolution
render(
Timeout Debugging
Timeouts mean: missing mock, wrong query, or component not rendering Use screen.debug() to see actual DOM Check console for unmocked errors
Test Wrapper Pattern
const TestProviders = ({ children }) => (
Real-World Examples Linear Dashboard: Skeleton → Stale data → Fresh data (perceived <50ms) Vercel Dashboard: Prefetch on nav hover, optimistic deploys Notion Pages: Infinite cache, local-first, sync in background Diagnostic Protocol Integration Test Timeouts
Check what's actually rendering
render(
Find unmocked dependencies
Check console for "not a function" errors Look for network requests in test output Verify all contexts are provided
Fix async queries
Use findBy instead of getBy Increase timeout if needed: waitFor(() => {...}, { timeout: 3000 }) Mock React Query properly
Simplify component tree
Test widgets individually first Add full integration tests last Use data-testid for complex queries Performance Optimization Dashboard Load Budget Phase Target Skeleton render 0-16ms (1 frame) First data paint <100ms Full interactive <200ms Lazy widgets <500ms React Query Config const queryClient = new QueryClient({ defaultOptions: { queries: { staleTime: 5 * 60 * 1000, // 5min cacheTime: 30 * 60 * 1000, // 30min refetchOnWindowFocus: false, refetchOnMount: false, retry: 1, }, }, });
Skeleton Pattern function Dashboard() { const { data, isLoading } = useQuery('dashboard', fetchDashboard);
// Show skeleton immediately, no loading check return (
Common Pitfalls Spinners for fast loads - Use skeletons instead Unmemoized expensive computations - Wrap in useMemo Testing implementation details - Test user behavior Mocking too much - Mock at boundaries only Synchronous test expectations - Everything is async
When debugging test timeouts, ALWAYS start with screen.debug() to see what actually rendered.