Ascendly Learning — product plan
Audience: Leadership, L&D, product, engineering
Status: L0 foundation and partial L1/L3 are in the product — see Learning guide
Engineering detail: design-log/2026-06-26-ascendly-learning-plan.md in the monorepo
What we're building
An internal learning platform inside Ascendly — inspired by Disprz for training delivery, not a full enterprise LXP.
| Capability | Target |
|---|---|
| Create modules | From PDF, PPT, Word, markdown, video |
| Questionnaires | Quizzes with pass/fail and retries |
| Assign learners | By employee, department, cluster, or access level — anyone in the company |
| Author access | Level 2+; edit modules in org scope |
| Navigation | Per-module strict (linear) or flexible (free order) |
| Track progress | Per learner and team reports for managers |
Not in v1: Excel uploads, points / gamification.
Integration advantage: Ascendly already has employees, org chart, access levels, file storage (S3), and notifications.
Product decisions (accepted)
| Topic | Decision |
|---|---|
| Authors | Access level 2 and above. Create/edit/delete modules only within their org scope (same rules as scorecard and employees). |
| Assignment | Level 2+ may assign a module to any employee — assignment is not limited to the author’s visible scope. |
| Excel | Skipped for v1 |
| Points | Skipped for v1 |
| Navigation | Each module has navigation_mode: strict (complete units in order, default) or flexible (jump to any unit) |
Separate from AI / MCP
| Initiative | Doc |
|---|---|
| Learning (this plan) | Disprz-like modules, assignments, quizzes |
| Assistant / MCP | Assistant & MCP — chat bot and Cursor tools |
If Learning is the business priority, start here. The AI bot can index published modules later.
Roles
| Role | Who | Can |
|---|---|---|
| Learner | All employees | Take assigned modules |
| Author | Level 2+ | CRUD modules in org scope |
| Assigner | Level 2+ | Assign modules to anyone |
| Manager | Level 3+ | View team progress |
| Super admin | Level 5 | All modules company-wide |
Module navigation
Authors choose when creating or editing a module:
| Mode | Learner experience |
|---|---|
| Strict | Units unlock in order. Must finish step 1 before step 2. Best for compliance and onboarding. |
| Flexible | Learner can open any unit in any order. Progress still tracks all units. |
Quiz units can still require a passing score before that unit counts as complete (both modes).
Phases
Update Status as work progresses.
| Phase | Focus | Est. | Status | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L0 | Foundation | 3–4 wk | In product | Modules, player, strict/flexible nav, author studio |
| L1 | Document uploads | 3–4 wk | Partial | Markdown + PDF document units enabled; PPT/video not in enabled authoring set yet |
| L2 | Questionnaires | 3–4 wk | Not started | Quiz builder, grading |
| L3 | Assignments | 2–3 wk | Partial | Assign/enroll anyone (level 2+); due dates + reminder notifications not built |
| L4 | Reporting | 2–3 wk | Not started | Manager team completion + CSV |
| L5 | Points | — | Out of scope | Backlog only |
| L6 | AI integration | — | Deferred | Bot Q&A on published content |
Phase details
L0 — Foundation
- Real modules in the database (replace static catalog placeholders)
- Learner player with strict / flexible navigation setting
- Author CRUD for level 2+ within org scope
- First module: Understanding Your Scorecard
L1 — Authoring + files
| File type | Plan |
|---|---|
| View in browser | |
| PowerPoint / Word | Convert to PDF for in-app view; download original |
| Video | Stream from storage |
| Excel | Not supported v1 |
L2 — Questionnaires
- Multiple choice, true/false
- Pass threshold (e.g. 80%) to complete gated units
- Configurable retries
L3 — Assignments
- Assign to individuals, departments, clusters — any employee, not scope-limited
- Level 2+ can assign
- Due dates + reminder notifications
L4 — Reporting
- Manager view: assigned / in progress / completed / overdue
- CSV export
- Optional dashboard rollup (roadmap #3)
What exists today
See the operational guide: Learning.
| Piece | Status |
|---|---|
/learning/my, /browse, /author | Live — API-driven catalog and progress |
| Modules / units / player | Live — markdown and document (PDF) units |
| Author studio (level 2+) | Live — settings, units, authors, audience |
| Enrollments / assign | Live — level 2+ can assign |
| Quizzes, due dates, manager reports | Not built — see phases above |
Open decisions
- API naming — keep
/coursesas alias while migrating to “modules” internally? - PPT/DOC — server-side PDF conversion vs download-only for v1?
Timeline (illustrative ~18 weeks)
| Period | Deliverable |
|---|---|
| Month 1 | L0 — player, navigation modes, first module |
| Month 2 | L1 — document authoring |
| Month 3 | L2 — quizzes |
| Month 3–4 | L3 — assignments (assign anyone) |
| Month 4–5 | L4 — manager reports |
When a phase ships
- Update Status in this doc and the design-log checklists.
- Describe live behavior in Guide and update What's in Ascendly.
- Remove completed items from the Roadmap if they were listed there.
Related
- Assistant & MCP — separate AI track
- Roadmap — dashboard learning overview
- Scorecard guide — content source for first module