Learning Experience Designer & Platform Builder

I build learning systems that solve problems people actually have.

From infrastructure and custom plugins to analytics and roadmap decisions, I lead a cross-functional team that ships features grounded in data, strengthens compliance, and improves the learner experience. The goal is always the same: make it work better than it did yesterday.

Adapt Framework Analytics SCORM/xAPI Google Cloud MongoDB Video & Animation

Learning Experience Design

I turn complicated information into learning that makes sense.

Learning Technology

I build and improve the platforms and systems that deliver it.

Product & Strategy

I figure out what needs to be built, why, and what will actually make a difference.

Leadership

I work with designers, developers, SMEs, and stakeholders to get things done.

Inside the courses I build

A few things I've built, fixed, launched, and occasionally had to rescue. For the videos, I wrote the project brief, script, and storyboard; our animator and videographer handled the animation and edit.

Problems I've actually solved

Each of these started with something that wasn't working. Here's what I did about it.

01 — Synchronized audio learning system

Custom Adapt Plugin · Interaction-aware playback · Guided pacing

Problem

Our online courses used audio heavily, but learners could hit play and walk away. That created a poor learning experience and a compliance problem.

Approach

I built a custom Adapt plugin that connects the audio to the content on screen. As the audio progresses, the page moves with it and pauses when the learner needs to complete an interaction. The goal was simple: make the audio part of the learning experience instead of something learners could just leave running in the background.

Impact

A more interactive experience that keeps learners engaged while meeting the requirements of a regulated online course.

Audio sync plugin showing time-coded markers driving scroll and playback behavior in Adapt

02 — Cross-department operations dashboard

Custom-built · API integrations · Real-time course & data tracking

Problem

Managing 30+ courses meant tracking archive dates, rollover schedules, version changes, learner survey sentiment, traffic, and video engagement across six separate systems by hand. Nothing lived in one place, and it was easy for something small — an overdue archive date, a course that needed a version bump — to slip through until it became a bigger problem.

Approach

Designed and built a full-stack operations dashboard from scratch that pulls live data from Google Analytics, Google Sheets, Monday.com, Vimeo, and Outlook calendars into one view. I worked with Claude as a development partner to move from concept to production faster, while I directed the architecture, data model, and what the dashboard actually needed to surface. Each integration follows the same pattern (fetch, normalize, cache) so adding a new data source doesn't mean reinventing anything. The home view goes a step further than just displaying that data: it recombines survey results, analytics, and Monday activity into derived insights by flagging what needs attention, scoring comment sentiment, and surfacing trend deltas so the dashboard interprets the data instead of just reporting it. It's deployed on Render with a Google Cloud-backed pipeline, so it runs on its own and stays current without manual upkeep.

Impact

  • One dashboard instead of six open tabs to check the status of any course
  • Overdue tasks and compliance-related deadlines get caught before they become a fire drill
  • Gives leadership visibility into course health, traffic, and learner sentiment without needing a status update from me
React 18 / Vite Node.js / Express Render Google Cloud Google Analytics (GA4) API Google Sheets API Monday.com API Vimeo API Outlook / ICS Claude (AI-assisted development)
OL Dashboard overview showing course trends, needs-attention list, and a calendar of launches, archive dates, and rollovers

03 — Adaptive learning pathways

Assessment-driven routing · Personalized learning journeys

Problem

Our learners are often studying for a licensing exam while working full time. Making someone sit through hours of content they already understand isn't a great use of their time.

Approach

I designed an assessment-driven pathway that uses what a learner already knows to determine where they need to spend their time. If they demonstrate proficiency in a topic, that content becomes optional. If they don't, it's required.

Impact

  • Learners spend time on what they actually need
  • Less content overload, more personalized learning experience

04 — Compliance timing & completion logic

Seat-time tracking · Completion gating · Learner transparency

Problem

State regulators require us to document how long learners spend in a course. Our LMS wasn't built to handle the level of tracking we needed.

Approach

I designed a custom timing and completion system that tracks time at the section level and prevents completion until the required thresholds are met. I also made the information visible to learners, so they can see where they stand instead of having to guess why something isn't complete.

Impact

  • Compliance requirements met with precision across 30+ courses
  • 20,000+ learners can see their own progress — support tickets dropped
Compliance timing interface with section-level tracking

05 — Blended synchronous online learning

Synchronous + Asynchronous Delivery · Instructor Touchpoints · Structured Accountability

Problem

Self-paced learning gives learners flexibility, but it can also make it easy to get stuck or fall behind without anyone noticing.

Approach

I designed a blended learning model that combines online course modules with scheduled Zoom sessions, instructor check-ins, and one-on-one support. The goal was to keep the flexibility of online learning while giving learners more opportunities to connect with an instructor when they need it.

Impact

  • Learners stay on track instead of stalling out mid-program
  • Instructor support added without breaking the scalability of async delivery
Blended OIL model showing synchronous and asynchronous delivery with instructor touchpoints

A little about me

The short version

  • Learning is a product, not a slide deck.
  • Adaptive systems beat one-size-fits-all delivery
  • Data should inform iteration.

I started my career in graphic design, where I learned to think about how people interact with information and visual systems. From there, I moved into eLearning and instructional design, then into learning technology and platform development. Over the past 8+ years, I've designed courses, built learning systems, managed platforms, worked through regulatory requirements, and led projects from idea to launch. My work sits at the intersection of learning, technology, and product. I like understanding the problem first, then figuring out the best way to solve it, whether that means redesigning a course, building a new feature, or changing the way a team works.

Let's talk

Email is best. I'm also on LinkedIn if you'd rather connect there first.

Email

mlt@marissalt.com

LinkedIn

View profile

Location

Austin, TX