While reviewing the TechCognify website, I noticed something interesting.
The entire site was fast ⚡—except the reviews section, which was taking 10–15 seconds to load.
Since the frontend was already optimized with Next.js, this immediately pointed to a backend-level bottleneck, not a UI issue.
On inspecting the api/reviews endpoint, the root cause became clear:
Images were being stored and served directly from the database, instead of an optimized media delivery service.
This led to:
- Heavy API payloads
- Slow response times
- A degraded user experience
Fix:I refactored the media flow and moved image storage to an optimized external service.
Outcome:Instant load times for reviews and consistent performance across the site.
Key takeaway:Performance issues often aren’t visible in the UI.They’re the result of early architectural decisions, especially around media and data handling.
Frontend optimization helps.Backend decisions define scale.
#NextJS #WebPerformance #BackendEngineering #SoftwareArchitecture #TechCognify