I'm Ethan Gardner.
I'm a web performance & design system consultant, international speaker, and educator helping growth-stage teams turn front-end systems into fast, resilient experiences that support business goals and engineering practices.
I help teams turn engineering effort into durable impact.
Many engineering organizations don't have a talent problem, they have a leverage problem: work doesn't compound, leading to platform and system sprawl, performance regressions, and firefighting. My focus is on building systems and practices that make future work easier for engineers, businesses, and users at scale.
Services
I operate at the intersection of technical depth, enablement, and strategy. Companies who get the most out of my services treat engineering as a long-term investment, not just a delivery function. I work with teams to build sustainable, scalable solutions that drive business growth and user satisfaction.
Web Performance Consulting
Get an expert-level performance analysis of your site or application with prioritized recommendations so your team can work on the highest impact improvements. This includes:
- Diagnosing performance bottlenecks
- Recommending actionable, prioritized fixes for the most impact
- Communicating the business impact of performance work to leadership
Design System Consulting
Get battle-tested advice to plan or evolve your design system so your developers can work productively, and your organization has established UI patterns that are performant, accessible, and minimize organizational risk. This includes:
- Reviewing architecture, governance, and adoption patterns
- Recommending a clear evolution path
- Establishing style guides and guidance on accessibility and inclusive design
Recent Articles
2025 Retrospective
What I learned and did in 2025
AI On-ramp for Curious Developers
My Journey with AI and how you can get started
Finding Work When the Job Market is Bad
How I worked through difficult conditions to land a new job in a new industry