Hackers Academy

Project Context

Hackers Academy is a cybersecurity training platform where users browse courses, enrol, pay, and then work through course content while logged in. Almost everything that matters happens after authentication, which is exactly where a learning platform is hardest to get right.

The Problem

The platform needed a more reliable and polished experience across course pages, LMS flows, authentication behavior, and production readiness. Some parts depended on session-based data, cached responses, or frontend-side assumptions that needed review and cleanup before launch.

Target Users

• Learners browsing and comparing cybersecurity courses before enrolling
• Enrolled students returning to continue a course they already paid for
• Users moving between devices and sessions, who expect to stay logged in
• Prospective buyers evaluating price, instructor and course content

Main User Journey

1. Discover and compare courses, with prices and instructors visible
2. Create an account or log in
3. Enrol and complete payment
4. Access My Courses and continue where the session left off
5. Return later, on the same or a different device, and still be logged in

Constraints

• An existing backend and API owned by the platform: the front-end had to work with it, not replace it
• Session-dependent endpoints and caching behaviour that affected what users saw
• Payment logic had to stay backend-controlled, never dependent on front-end values
• Sensitive data handling had to be reviewed rather than assumed safe
• The work ran ahead of launch, so a stable production build was the deadline

My Role

• UI/UX and frontend implementation
• API-connected course data
• Login and session behavior
• Cache issue fixes
• Payment-flow review
• Technical SEO/GEO/AEO setup
• Production build preparation

Key Work

• Improved the UX inside course and LMS-related pages
• Connected course data, prices, instructors, and My Courses with the API
• Improved login persistence and session behavior after page refresh
• Fixed cache and session-dependent endpoint issues
• Reviewed sensitive data handling; avoided storing private data in localStorage or sessionStorage
• Reviewed the payment flow so payment relies on backend-controlled data, not frontend-manipulated values
• Added AI-search readiness files such as llms.txt

Technical Setup

• API integration for courses, prices, instructors, and enrolled courses
• Login/session persistence after page refresh
• Cache and session-dependent endpoint fixes
• Security review: no sensitive data in localStorage/sessionStorage
• Payment-flow review so totals depend on backend data
• Technical SEO/GEO/AEO improvements and llms.txt AI-search readiness
• Final UI fixes and a stable production build

Technologies & Tools