Custom eLearning Development

Custom eLearning programmes, designed and built end-to-end.

For professional certification bodies, regulated training providers, corporate academies, and other content-rich organisations. Strategic and creative direction from Dublin; design, build, and production from an established Cape Town team — under a single accountable lead.

What we develop

The shape of custom eLearning development work.

Every engagement is scoped from the brief defined in the discovery phase. The categories below describe the typical shapes engagements take.

Modernisation

Certification programme modernisation

Flagship classroom programmes redesigned for a digital-first market. Instructional architecture, cohort experience, assessment, and platform packaging — designed for members who expect a programme to feel like a credential, not a download.

Conversion

Classroom-to-digital conversion

Conversion of existing face-to-face programmes into structured digital learning. Pacing, assessment design, faculty presence, and community moments rebuilt for asynchronous and blended delivery.

Compliance

Regulated and compliance training

Compliance, professional development, and licensed training programmes for regulated industries. Built to meet regulator expectations and updated as the regulatory picture moves — AML, data protection, financial services, EU AI Act readiness, sector-specific compliance.

Library development

Course library and catalogue development

Course library expansion for content-rich organisations with a backlog to digitise. Editorial frameworks, content operations, and production capacity to move volume without sacrificing learning design discipline.

Microlearning

Microlearning and modular pathways

Short-form modules and learning pathways for working professionals. CPD frameworks, microlearning portfolios, and adaptive learning design — content that fits inside the working week rather than asking for time the learner does not have.

AI-supported

AI-supported content workflows

AI-supported content workflows where AI is used to accelerate well-structured work — not as a substitute for instructional design. Human judgement on what good looks like; AI on production cadence.

Who we work with

Four buyer types, each with a recognisable shape of work.

Professional certification bodies

Pan-European institutes modernising flagship programmes for a younger membership and a digital-first market.

Regulated training providers

Compliance, professional development, and licensed training providers digitising programmes to meet regulator and learner expectations.

Corporate academies

In-house learning functions inside large employers — onboarding, leadership development, and technical certification at scale.

Content-rich organisations

Established providers digitising face-to-face programmes — executive education, membership bodies, and specialist content publishers.

How we work

A three-phase engagement structure.

The shape of each phase varies by engagement; the structure does not.

Phase 1 · 4–6 weeks

Discovery & scoping

A paid phase to understand the business, audit existing learning assets, and define the scope of the work that follows. Concludes with a written diagnosis and a fixed-scope quote for Phase 2.

Phase 2 · variable

Design & build

Programme architecture, instructional design, content development, multimedia, accessibility, and platform packaging move ahead against the scoped brief. Cadence and milestones agreed at the outset.

Phase 3 · 4–8 weeks

Embed & transfer

Knowledge, processes, and capability transfer to the client team. The engagement winds down with the client owning the outcome — not dependent on continued LearnFrame involvement.

Decision Guide

The Programme Design Decision Guide.

A practical guide for organisations evaluating a custom eLearning development engagement — the six dimensions of programme design, five questions to ask before committing, and the indicative shape of engagement at LearnFrame.

In the guide

What you'll find inside

  • The design discipline gap — and the three patterns that produce most underperforming programmes
  • The six dimensions of programme design — pacing, cohort, faculty, assessment, member experience, production craft
  • The five module-level decisions — outcome, interactivity, media richness, accessibility, ownership
  • The five questions the executive team should ask before approving any custom eLearning investment
  • The honest column — where money is well spent in custom eLearning, and where it's typically wasted
  • A scoping worksheet your team can take to its internal conversation

A 20-page PDF. Approximately 35 minutes to read.

A PDF download. No follow-up unless you ask for one.

How an engagement works

A clear path from question to programme.

Every engagement begins with a discovery and scoping phase that produces a written diagnosis and a fixed-scope plan — so the work ahead is defined before anyone commits to building it. No open-ended retainers, no ambiguous deliverables.

Scope, timeline, and approach are agreed up front and shaped around your programme — every one is different, so they are set deliberately rather than from a template. If after discovery either side decides not to proceed, the diagnosis stands on its own as your asset. Where a programme needs to stay current after launch, ownership and maintenance are designed in from the start.

Why this model

Integrated direction and production, under one accountable lead.

Strategic and creative direction from Dublin. Production through an established Cape Town team. Two locations, one engagement, one point of accountability.

Dublin direction

Diagnosis, scoping, programme architecture, editorial framework, creative direction, and client accountability sit in Dublin. The seat that decides what good looks like for the learner stays close to the buyer.

Cape Town production

Instructional design execution, content development, multimedia, accessibility, and quality assurance through an established Cape Town team. English-language, time-zone aligned with Ireland, supported by a mature creative industry base.

Three decades of foundation

LearnFrame is built on a career that began at CBT Systems in Dublin — the first eLearning company in the world to IPO on Nasdaq, in 1995. Two hundred-plus digital learning titles produced under direction across the years since.

More on Delivery & Production →
Selected Work

The shape of the work, in practice.

A recent discovery and scoping engagement — what gets diagnosed, what the quote covers, and how the trial-first architecture is structured.

Discovery & Scoping · 2026

Professional certification body — CPD modernisation

A regulated certification body with a ~100-module portfolio of CPD content on a legacy authoring platform. Four-week scoping phase: written diagnosis, scoped quote, and architectural recommendation delivered to the institute's Learning Solutions team.

Read the case study →
Founder Perspective · 1996–2026

Offshore, done properly — thirty years building the model

From Barbados and Cape Town in the 1990s through SourceSkills and Skillsoft to NIIT — three decades on every side of offshore learning production, and the one lesson that built LearnFrame's Dublin-direction, Cape-Town-production model.

Read the case study →

Discuss a brief.

A thirty-minute introductory conversation to understand the situation and explore the shape of work that would fit — or whether a brief at all is the right next step.

Arrange a Conversation

Custom eLearning development: common questions

What is custom eLearning development?

Custom eLearning development is the design and build of digital learning programmes tailored to a specific organisation's content, learners, and goals, rather than generic off-the-shelf courses. It typically covers instructional design, content development, assessment, accessibility, and SCORM/xAPI delivery.

How much does custom eLearning development cost?

Every programme is scoped individually, because cost depends entirely on content volume, the level of interactivity and media the outcomes require, accessibility standards, and timeline. Rather than quote a figure that wouldn't fit your programme, we begin with a discovery and scoping phase that produces a written, fixed-scope quote before any build starts — so you see exactly what you are committing to.

Who is custom eLearning development for?

Professional certification bodies, regulated training providers, corporate academies, and other content-rich organisations that need a digital programme designed around their members and standards, not a generic course.

How is custom eLearning different from off-the-shelf courses?

Off-the-shelf courses are generic and built for a mass audience. Custom eLearning is designed around your specific outcomes, assessment, and learners, which is what makes a credential defensible and keeps members engaged.

How long does a custom eLearning project take?

Most programmes run over a few months and begin with a discovery and scoping phase that produces a fixed-scope plan and quote before the build starts.

Do you develop eLearning for certification bodies?

Yes. LearnFrame specialises in credential-bearing programmes for certification bodies and regulated training providers, using assessment-first design and a focus on keeping credentials current.