Scaling E-learning: Resolving Performance Bottlenecks

Client profile

A growing online learning platform specializing in high-quality webinars, live sessions, coaching sessions and on-demand videos. The platform has complex infrastructure with a lot of functionality and high dynamic content for students and lectors, such as:

Course Catalog

Learning Progress Tracking

Q&A and Community Forum

Live chats during Live Webinars

Certificates of Completion

Search and Filters

Course Creation Tools

Analytics for Lectors

Goals

Ensure the platform can smoothly handle 4000 concurrent users

Pinpointing areas within the system requiring optimization to improve user experience and stability

Verify that the system can handle data-intensive operations under load, such as course enrollments, progress tracking, live webinars, live chats, and quizzes, without loss of data integrity or transactional errors

Ensure that all users receive a fast and responsive experience, regardless of the load on the system. This includes quick page loads, seamless video playback, and immediate response in interactive elements like quizzes and forums

Get insights and data to inform strategic planning for future growth, helping decision-makers understand when and where investments in infrastructure or optimizations are needed to support anticipated increases in user base or content

Challenges:

Simulating Real-World Scenarios: Prepare highly dynamic load testing scripts that cover all pages and different user journeys Including actions like logging in, browsing courses, watching videos, participating in discussions, live webinars, taking quizzes, making purchases, creating the courses, etc.

Complex Dynamic Content Delivery: The website has 6874 pages with various interactive and personalized content types and features that adapt based on user interactions, preferences, and behavior. Including: Adaptive learning paths, Real-time Chat and Discussion Forums, Live Webinars and Workshops, Personalized Course Recommendations, Interactive Quizzes and Assessments, Downloadable Resources, User Progress Tracking and Analytics

Time sensitive: Given the ongoing growth of our user base, it was crucial to adopt a solution that could be integrated swiftly and offer detailed analytics for immediate identification of performance issues

Challenges:

Simulating Real-World Scenarios: Prepare highly dynamic load testing scripts that cover all pages and different user journeys Including actions like logging in, browsing courses, watching videos, participating in discussions, live webinars, taking quizzes, making purchases, creating the courses, etc.

Complex Dynamic Content Delivery: The website has 6874 pages with various interactive and personalized content types and features that adapt based on user interactions, preferences, and behavior. Including: Adaptive learning paths, Real-time Chat and Discussion Forums, Live Webinars and Workshops, Personalized Course Recommendations, Interactive Quizzes and Assessments, Downloadable Resources, User Progress Tracking and Analytics

Time sensitive: Given the ongoing growth of our user base, it was crucial to adopt a solution that could be integrated swiftly and offer detailed analytics for immediate identification of performance issues

Solution

To address these challenges, the QA Lead turned to Perforator.io.
The solution involved:

Real-World Testing Conditions

Using Perforator’s codeless load generator and TestNG QA automation engineer created test scenarios that accurately mimicked real-world users’ behavior

Run the load tests with an increasing number of users

The QA team ran load tests for several iterations. After the first test, Perforator identified all the critical performance problems with a load of 500 users. After the 4th test with 4000 users, the system was finally stable to hold the expected amount of real users

Reporting and bug fixing after each load test

The QA team prepared reports based on Perforator data about all performance bottlenecks under a certain amount of users

Integration of Perforator.io in CI/CD Pipeline

It allows to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks early in the development cycle. This proactive approach prevents issues from reaching production, saving time and resources in fixing problems after release

Results:

Performance Bottlenecks: All areas that previously underperformed under heavy user load were identified and rectified

User capacity: Adjustments made post-testing ensured the platform could easily handle over 4,000 concurrent users

Page Load Time: Dramatic 64% decrease in page load time

Time efficiency: Every entire load testing phase was completed maximum within 3 days by 2 QA automation engineers

  • Performance Bottlenecks: All areas that previously underperformed under heavy user load were identified and rectified

  • User capacity: Adjustments made post-testing ensured the platform could easily handle over 4,000 concurrent users

  • Page Load Time: Dramatic 64% decrease in page load time

  • Time efficiency: Every entire load testing phase was completed maximum within 3 days by 2 QA automation engineers

Outcome

Confidence in Deployments

The Perforator’s efficiency made it possible, easy, fast and affordable to run load tests before every production

Users satisfaction

Post-implementation feedback indicated a notable increase in client satisfaction, with a 38% rise in client retention rates

Early Detection of Performance Issues

Early detection helped streamline the development process, allowing for quicker iterations and adjustments

High Product Quality with Easy Scalability

The client not only addressed their immediate challenges but also laid a solid foundation for scalable growth

Client's Testimonial

“The integration of Perforator.io transformed our approach to maintaining our high-performance
e-learning platform. We're now more agile, proactive, and prepared to scale, ensuring a quality learning experience for all our users”

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