Felt transitioned from using SVGs with React to Canvas for rendering interactive maps to address performance challenges associated with rendering thousands of elements simultaneously. This shift, detailed in a two-part series, focused initially on rendering and performance improvements. Felt encountered limitations with SVGs, such as slow rendering during map interactions, noticeable delays, and visual artifacts, especially on large maps. The new Canvas approach redraws everything from scratch each frame, providing a more consistent performance profile and better user experience. Implementing Canvas involved feature flags, end-to-end tests, and performance benchmarks to ensure a seamless transition, which ultimately resulted in enhanced responsiveness, particularly on lower-end devices. The company employed various optimizations, such as caching text as textures and clipping off-screen elements, to boost performance. This switch was part of a comprehensive overhaul aimed at delivering the best user experience without requiring major visible changes for users, leading to improved map interaction and speed.