How to stop your online learning project going wrong

Think of Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”. In online learning, that opens up a lot of possibilities. But in practice, issues tend to cluster in a few key areas. The goal isn’t to have a perfect plan, but to stop your project from getting derailed by the same old problems.

In some ways, it’s a mindset: don’t just hope for the best – actively look for the cracks. Successful projects aren’t just about good ideas; they’re about navigating the very real budget, people, and timing issues that pop up.

Reacting vs. Preventing

If you want to actually finish what you start, a dash of prevention is worth a ton of cure. This isn’t about complex processes. It’s about being honest, paying attention, and doing a few sensible things upfront.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. The trick is to focus on the recurring patterns. Here’s a simple way to think about it:

Recognise the ‘Sinister Six’: These are the classic troublemakers: budget problems, lack of interest from users or the market, project partners pulling out, key people leaving, producing a poor-quality product, and finally, big delays. Just having this list is half the battle.

Watch for the warning signs:

• For budgets: Is your cashflow much steeper than expected? Are initial cost estimates already looking wildly wrong?
• For interest: Are you struggling to find people for a pilot? Is feedback from test users minimal or purely about technical glitches?
• For partners: Is communication becoming less frequent or more strained? Are settled issues suddenly getting re-opened?
• For key people: Is someone’s engagement dropping off? Is there rising conflict?
• For quality: Is there no learning designer or UX person on the team? Is a ‘polished version’ always just about to happen?
• For delays: Are early deliverables (like scoping docs) late, but the final deadline hasn’t moved? Does the project feel like a low priority for the people supposed to deliver it?

Take simple preventative steps:

• Budgets: Scope costs accurately (avoid wishful thinking!), track spend as you go, and police ‘scope creep’ ruthlessly.
• Interest: Do real market research, start small to prove your concept, and always be able to answer the learner’s question: “What’s in it for me?”
• Partners: Have direct conversations early. Codify how you’ll work in an agreement. Sort out who owns what (IP) from the start.
• Key people: Name a specific substitute for each crucial role. Keep them in the loop via work shadowing. Keep project records up-to-date.
• Quality: Get the right skills on the team. Build in time for proper user testing.
• Delays: Create an honest project plan by talking to the people who’ll do the work. Have regular, honest communication to keep things moving.
• Stay awake: Revisit your budget, check in with partners, and update your plans. Small, consistent checks stop small problems from becoming big ones.

What’s the best approach?

A practical, watchful mindset. Don’t assume “it won’t happen to us”. Let these six common areas guide where you put your attention and what simple safeguards you set up.

This isn’t theoretical. It’s about applying these ideas to real projects. Take a look at these anonymised examples (mostly from actual Ufi projects, a couple from the wider industry) of where things went badly wrong:

Budget: One project’s funds were spent far too fast, before the build was even near finished. Too much was paid upfront to an external developer, and the project was never properly completed.

Interest: A high-quality app for medical workers was built, but the team found it incredibly hard to interest their target clients. Initial uptake was very low.

Partners: A care sector project was delayed by a year when a partner providing crucial software access pulled out.

Key People: A project simply ended when the person who wrote the winning proposal left the organisation, and there was no one to replace them.

Quality: An employability platform launched as a mess. The team lacked graphic design skills, user testing was cursory, and there was no UX expertise.

Delays: A video project for the medical sector drifted for a year between planning and prototype because a key partner backed out and the organisation got distracted by other work.

Stopping your project from going wrong is mostly about practical vigilance. Learn from where others have stumbled. Put straightforward, honest practices in place from the very beginning – like accurate budgeting, clear partner agreements, and getting the right skills on your team.

Talk about these risks with your team early-on, watch for the warning signs, and build this thinking into your project from day one. That way, you’re not just building a learning product; you’re actively protecting its chance of success.