Impact at a Glance

• ♿ Accessibility-first redesign targeting WCAG & EAA compliance → Broader learner inclusion, supporting Aquent’s global reach
• 📈 70% faster page loads via Eleventy migration and asset optimization → Reduced bounce rates and increased learner engagement
• ✅ Zero-downtime platform relaunch in 2025 → Ensured uninterrupted learning for 160,000 students and preserved platform credibility
• 💡 Crisis-tested problem-solving during LMS migration and content transition → Minimized disruption and maintained trust with learners and stakeholders

Navigating Change

Learners faced slow, inconsistent, and inaccessible experiences that limited engagement and growth. These issues risked Gymnasium’s reputation as a trusted global learning platform and constrained its ability to scale and adapt.

When the LMS host changed hands, deeper back-end and front-end challenges emerged, requiring thoughtful design and technical collaboration. This transition highlighted the need to future-proof the platform for sustained growth and protect Gymnasium’s market position.

Just as we completed the redesign, an unexpected LMS shutdown and team layoffs threatened to derail progress. It became a real test of resilience and commitment.

As Design Lead, I scoped key UX problems, proposed solutions, and led the design and development of a seamless, scalable, and inclusive learning platform. I worked closely with the Director of Technology and migration script wizard Amir Tadrisi to implement a quick maintenance page and run thorough QA, both automated and manual, to catch regressions and visual issues. I also focused on identifying UX bottlenecks, building a scalable design system, and ensuring accessibility — all under tight deadlines, with long-term flexibility in mind.

With limited time and resources, I collaborated with engineering to triage migration issues, prioritize high-impact UX improvements, and preserve core functionality for learners throughout the transition.

After launch, the platform showed zero visual regressions, no bugs, and no performance or functionality issues. It reflected the stability of the migration and the thoroughness of our end-to-end process.

This work preserved Gymnasium’s credibility, reduced learner churn risk, and ensured the brand’s mission lived on beyond the original tech stack. It was a strategic win during a turbulent transition.

Crafting the User Experience

Iterative Design Process

• Rapid in-browser prototyping with HTML/CSS
• Iterative testing with learners using the prototypes I built
• Seamlessly incorporated research into live features

Putting Learners First

To reduce friction for learners, I redesigned the course catalog, moving from a prototype that tested sorting and filtering to a live version with improved accessibility and navigation.

Design System & Visual Language

The migration to Eleventy enabled streamlined markup and a style refactor, allowing continuous iteration and refinement of the design system and overall visual language.

• Thoughtful UX writing that guides learners clearly and supports their journey
• Modular, responsive grid and accessible UI components
• Strong typography hierarchy for readability

A minor but important enhancement was refreshing the footer for clarity and consistency. I redesigned it to consolidate links, highlight awards and press, and improve overall navigability.

UX Improvement: New LMS Flow

Confusing and easy to miss: Learners could start a course without enrolling, preventing it from appearing in their dashboard.

Building a Fast, Scalable Platform

To support over 160,000 learners globally, we migrated the platform to Eleventy, optimized performance and scalability, and laid the foundation for accessible, inclusive learning.

• Migrated from Jekyll → Eleventy for faster builds and scalable, reusable components
• Optimized assets → 70% faster page loads, giving learners instant access to content
• Mobile-first layouts and modular components → maintainable and adaptable design system

Accessibility at the Core

Accessibility was a priority from day one. We implemented best practices to ensure content was usable for a wide range of learners, while continuing to refine compliance with global standards.

• Semantic HTML, keyboard-friendly focus states, and screen reader navigation
• Contrast-verified color palette and text sizing for readability
• Laid groundwork for accessibility compliance (WCAG & EAA)

Metric	Pre-Eleventy	Post-Eleventy	Improvement
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)	5.2 s	1.4 s	73% faster
First Contentful Paint (FCP)	5.0 s	1.4 s	72% faster
Time to First Byte (TTFB)	2.7 s	0.9 s	67% faster
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)	0.04	0.02	50% improvement
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)	285 ms	58 ms	80% faster

Impact in Numbers

Gymnasium’s learner base doubled, from 80,000 in 2019 to over 160,000 by 2025, driven by a platform redesign focused on performance, accessibility, and scalability.

Designing for Crisis

Beyond the relaunch, Gymnasium itself came to an end in mid-2025 due to company layoffs, which also affected our team. With the LMS scheduled to go dark, offline, in just a few weeks, we took on the responsibility of shutting it down with care, including notifying learners, ensuring they could access their earned certificates and badges, and making all course content publicly available. Thanks to the advocacy and inspiring leadership of Program Manager Andrew Miller and the collaboration of the Director of Technology and me as Design Lead, we preserved Gymnasium’s mission — keeping free online learning accessible to more than 160,000 students worldwide, even after the platform closed.

We audited course assets, secured essential account access, and launched a migration project on GitHub. Together, we moved core content to YouTube, adapting workflows to maintain usability and engagement through the shutdown.

During the migration, I identified a subtle but persistent UX flaw in YouTube’s subtitle upload flow. I documented the issue and mocked up a quick fix, adding filename visibility for better clarity and consistency, designed for future refinement.

Before losing repo access, I also tackled instructor bio inconsistencies with Cursor AI, debugging complex content patterns and generating stable fixes in real time.

These rapid-response actions ensured learners continued receiving quality instruction, even as the platform winds down, demonstrating deep commitment to user experience under pressure.

Working through this transition reinforced the importance of steady leadership, keeping perspective, and focusing on what matters when everything feels uncertain. Above all, it reminded me that UX is about the people, not the pixels.

Telling the Gymnasium Story

Even after being laid off, I remained committed to sharing our team’s work. In July 2025, I co-presented the Gymnasium platform redesign at the Open edX Conference in Paris with Roman Edirisinghe. Together, we prepared our talk after the layoff, part catharsis, part grievance process, determined to highlight the impact and intentionality behind the redesign.

Presenting at the conference gave us a chance to reconnect with the Open edX community and reflect on the journey, from platform launch to platform loss, while advocating for accessibility and learner-first design.

After the talk, Roman and I topped off the experience at Arkose Massy, a local bouldering gym with an outdoor bar. Over burgers and stories, we celebrated a chapter well closed, not just for Gymnasium, but for the team that built it — a memorable way to honor the journey and the community connections we forged along the way.

Even after leaving Gymnasium, I remained dedicated to sharing our work and advancing accessibility in online learning. UX design isn’t just a job; it’s about helping learners connect, engage, and thrive, even amidst uncertainty. Preparing and presenting our talk after the layoff was a way to honor that commitment and the team behind it.

Thank you, děkuji, merci beaucoup.