Frontendly.io is an online learning platform designed to help frontend developers grow their skills and advance their careers.
Overview
- Timeline: October 2024 − Present
- Role: Co-founder & Product Designer
- Key Responsibilities:
– Led design system development
– End-to-end website design
– Conversion-focused sales page design
– UI design with a focus on online learning experience - Tools & Technologies:
– Project Coordination: Trello, Notion, Slack
– Design & Content Creation: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Filmora, CapCut
– Development Stack: React, Next.js, WordPress
How it all started
Five years ago, I created an open-source CSS selectors cheatsheet that unexpectedly grew to over 2,000 subscribers. This organic growth sparked our belief that I had discovered something valuable that could evolve into something much bigger.
That early success became the foundation for Frontendly.io. We planned to launch with the CSS Selectors course first, followed by a series of additional courses including CSSpresso, FE Bootcamp (focused on portfolio building) and other specialised frontend skills.
To support this growth and ensure consistency across all our educational content, we developed a robust design system that now serves as the backbone of our platform’s user experience.
Our goal: focused on learner outcomes
Target Audience
Frontend developers who want to level up through hands-on, project-based learning that builds skills and career confidence.
Our Mission
To create pivotal moments of clarity and confidence for self-taught developers navigating their learning journey.
We built Frontendly.io around three core principles:
- 🕹️ Accessible & enjoyable: Learning complex frontend concepts shouldn’t feel overwhelming.
- 🚀 Empowering: Developers can master modern tools without the anxiety of falling behind industry trends.
- 🌟 Stand out from the crowd: Learn the skills and mindset that make you shine in today’s competitive frontend landscape.
- 🫶 Supportive: Building a community where learners know they’re not alone in their journey.
📈 Success Metrics
We measure impact through meaningful indicators tied to real learner outcomes:
- Conversion to paid courses
- Course completion and engagement rates
- Social media content sharing
- Learner satisfaction and feedback
- Career advancement tracking
Observe: understanding the learners
User research: To gain a deep understanding of our learning community, I analysed feedback from over 2,000 CSS Selectors email subscribers, reviewed insights from past courses, and actively participated in discussions within the Daily.dev developer community.
Key insights discovered
- Confidence gap: Learners understood the theory but lacked confidence when applying it to real-world projects.
- Impostor syndrome: Many felt they were falling behind and believed others saw them as more skilled than they were, leading to hesitation and burnout.
- Engagement challenge: Learners wanted the platform to feel more human and relatable, rather than cold or purely transactional.
Reflect: from research into prioritised actions
This process involved two key steps:
- Step 1: Collect assumptions and questions
- Step 2: Plot on risk vs certainty matrix
Based on our risk assessment, we identified key design decisions to address our top-priority assumptions.
Priority Actions:
- Search-driven video play list UI
Redesigned the course interface to prioritise search and on-demand learning over linear progression. - Video structure including:
– Fundamentals: Concept and syntax
– Application: Real-world examples with live demos - Course Progress Tracker UI
Provides learners with real-time feedback on their completion status and encourages continued engagement. - Quiz: knowledge checks
Make: from prototypes to validation
Step 1. IA (Information Architecture)
I began by identifying users’ top tasks and goals. From there, I grouped related content based on user expectations — not what I wanted to show — and defined clear paths for ‘global’, ‘public’, and ‘members-only’.
This task-driven approach helped shape an intuitive, goal-oriented information architecture that reflects how real users navigate and learn.
Step 2. Wireframe & low-fidelity prototype
Based on the information architecture and research, I first collaborated with the team to sketch hand-drawn wireframes. This helped us quickly align on layout ideas and content priorities. Once aligned, I translated the sketches into low-fidelity prototypes in Figma to explore structure, hierarchy, and user flow more clearly.
Step 3. Development priority flow
Based on our information architecture, I established a development priority flow — starting from global components to member-only features — which allowed us to build the design system alongside product development.
Component Categorisation Strategy:
- Global: Essential elements used across all pages
- Public: Content components for general users
- Member-only: Personalised features accessible to authenticated users only
Step 4. High-fidelity prototype with the design system in mind
Multiple Perspectives:
– A delightful user experience
– A scalable system foundation
I began by researching real-world UI components to validate practical design patterns. Based on these insights, I built the high-fidelity prototype and design system in parallel. As mentioned earlier, we had plans to expand the brand with additional courses — so scalability was essential from the start.
Let me walk you through the high-fidelity prototype process using the video content list as an example:
Research Scope
Analysed video course interfaces across 4 major e-learning platforms (edX, Deeplearning.ai, Udemy and Khan Academy) to identify design patterns and opportunities for Frontendly.io differentiation.
Key Findings
- Navigation Patterns: Implemented search-first navigation for immediate topic access
- Mobile Experience: Designed mobile-optimised layouts ensuring cross-device consistency
- User Engagement: Created video structure (fundamental + practical) with clear visual distinction
This research directly informed our search-driven learning approach, enabling developers to instantly access specific CSS selectors instead of following traditional linear course sequences.
Other UI research collection
This UI research covers key flows including navigation, sign-up, appearance settings, checkout, and pricing. It was used to inform design decisions through pattern comparison and benchmarking.
This is the outcome of the high-fidelity prototype and design system.
Final Design & Key Outcomes
🎯 Search-driven video play list
Unlike traditional linear courses, ours is built around real developer needs. Developers can quickly search for what they want to accomplish and get targeted solutions without having to go through everything sequentially.
✅ Accessibility in mind
I carefully designed all UI elements to support accessibility across various states — active, hover, and focus — in both light and dark modes, ensuring usability for keyboard and screen reader users.
📈 Course progress tracker UI
This video course list includes two levels of progress tracking:
- Section completion: Small milestones that celebrate progress within each module
- Course completion: A major milestone that marks the full journey
These layered achievements motivate learners and encourage continued engagement throughout the course.
📱Mobile first design
🛒 Sales page design strategies for conversion
- Focused & Responsive Hero Section
Removed distractions like navigation bars and appearance toggles to keep the spotlight on the message and CTA. Designed to adapt seamlessly across all devices — desktop, tablet, and mobile — for a consistent, conversion-focused experience.
- Hook with a fear-to-solution start
Begin by addressing common struggles developers face with CSS selectors, then offer a clear, confidence-building solution.
- Persistent CTA placement
A fixed “Buy Now” button at the bottom ensures action is always one tap away, no matter where users are on the page.
- In-Page video previews
Embedded sample videos let users preview course quality without leaving the page — this builds trust and reduces bounce rate.
- Frictionless flow with focused storytelling
Problems ➞ Value ➞ Content ➞ Price
📐 Building scalable design systems
I developed the design system in close collaboration with frontend engineer Ryan Yu, guided by these 5 core principles:
I documented my design system journey on UX Collective, exploring the challenges and breakthroughs of implementing Figma’s variables feature.
👉 Read the full article here: “Optimising your design system with Figma’s variables”
Final design system version 1 (2024)
The complete design system library and documentation created in Figma includes:
💡 What I Learned
Business Mindset
Starting Frontendly.io, I had no business background. I’ve since learned to connect design decisions to business goals, communicate value effectively, and think strategically to support user growth.
Next step: collaborate with talented people in marketing and sales to gain diverse perspectives and drive better outcomes.
Fast Fail, Fast Learn
We spent nearly 6 months building the Frontendly.io website and creating 70+ CSS selector videos without user feedback — a costly lesson in building before validating.
Now, we share early on social media, validate quickly, and build based on what resonates.
Lesson: Test fast. Learn faster.
🚀 What’s Next
Customisable UI
After building dark/light mode, I want to empower users to personalise their experience — theme, spacing, font, and features — for better accessibility and comfort.
Expressive design system
I’m evolving our system with expressive, human-centered micro-interactions to create more elegant, realistic, and emotionally engaging interfaces.
Business Challenge: building community
We’re now focused on building a meaningful community — sharing early, listening deeply, and growing alongside our learners.
📚 Resources
IBM Enterprise design thinking Toolkit: Assumptions and Questions
How To Make Design Impact by Vitaly Friedman
Information Architecture (IA)
- How To Create An Information Architecture That Is Easy To Use by Paul Boag
- Information And Information Architecture: The BIG Picture by Carrie Webster
Design system
Figma variables
