Corporate E-Learning Architecture Behind Closed Doors: Inside El’Lab#09 in Vinnytsia
Before every bootcamp, our team has the same discussion. It centers on the event’s stylistics: how to describe what is happening in the market right now.
This time, we were torn between the dynamics of a race and the language of architecture. On the one hand, the market moves at a frantic pace, with L&D teams constantly navigating sharp turns. On the other hand, speed alone is meaningless if the system lacks a solid foundation.
It turns out that corporate e-learning and building design share a lot in common. Just as you cannot lay floor slabs before the foundation concrete has cured, you cannot build a robust corporate learning program without a solid base. Likewise, there is no point in painting a façade if the blueprints for the utility systems are mixed up.
To ensure this metaphor didn’t remain just words on a slide, we brought it to life by creating a 3D construction set for our teams and mentors, composed of modular e-learning blocks. After all, when designing complex systems, there is no substitute for assembling them with your own hands.
So, how did our ninth hands-on bootcamp unfold? Let’s open the door and take a peek inside!
What Won’t We Talk About?
El’Lab is an intimate event focused primarily on hands-on practice.
Five teams from Kyivstar, NovaPay, UKRSIBBANK, PizzaDay, and UKRGASBANK took part in our ninth gathering. They worked over three days, with each day dedicated to a specific theme. The participants tackled challenges with one expert in the morning and with another in the afternoon. El’Lab mentors are proficient practitioners who guide teams through their challenges, help them break down the fundamentals of their e-learning projects, and share their experience and perspectives.
We cannot disclose the details of their discussions. These are working conversations centered on real projects and genuine obstacles, which are possible only because they remain strictly confidential. As a result, you won’t find a recap of the sessions here. However, we are happy to share the framework behind it all.
Three Levels of Design: From Concept to Metrics
In any construction project, strategy is where the initial blueprint meets the actual ground. In corporate learning, this ground is the company’s day-to-day reality: a lack of time, employee fatigue, shifting priorities, and constantly rewritten plans. At this point, the team must determine the overall direction of the learning function and how it demonstrates its value to the business.
The theme for the first day of El’Lab was “Corporate E-Learning Strategy: Marketing.” Strategy is familiar territory: it is the foundation of many projects. But what about marketing? Here, a counterintuitive rule applies: internal marketing for learning is, first and foremost, about selling an idea to investors.
Yet the primary investor is not the CFO who signs off on the budget, but the end user. It is the employees who invest their scarcest resources – their attention, energy, and time. If staff members don’t understand why they should open the platform, or if they feel coerced, the entire structure begins to crack, no matter how visually appealing the interactive slides are.
This idea set the tone for the first day of the bootcamp in a presentation by Iryna Mahaletska, Head of the Training Center at Optima Hotels & Resorts. She discussed e-learning as part of a broader ecosystem, where digital content is a tool, not the goal of the training department. Afterward, the day’s other mentors joined the teams for brainstorming sessions:
- Myroslav Botsula, E-learning Integrator & Founder of LMS Collaborator
- Viktoriia Oleshko, Consultant in Knowledge Management and Lean Six Sigma & Facilitator
- Valerii Zadavysvichka, Head of the Digital Learning Department at UKRGASBANK
- Viktoriia Balachuk, CEO of LMS Collaborator
- Liliia Malkova, Head of the Learning, Development, and Employee Care Center at UKRGASBANK
Once the foundational agreements were in place, it was time to focus on the walls and ceilings: content, instructional design, scenarios, simulations, presentation logic, and format selection.
Andrii Kubai, who has years of engineering experience at SweetRush, opened the second day with a presentation on AI-driven simulations. He broke them down into their technical components, from solution architecture to the less obvious factors driving development costs, and showed where artificial intelligence saves team resources and where it becomes an expensive gimmick with no business return.
Then El’Lab participants moved into breakout rooms for practical work, where they analyzed their training courses, scenarios, and formats together with their mentors. Specialists who handle learning for teams of thousands of people every day helped them design this architectural layer:
- Kateryna Skrebkova, Head of L&D and Employer Branding at OKKO
- Valentyna Grinchenko, Head of Educational Projects at Kernel
- Oleksandr Slipets, Learning and Development Manager at UKRNAFTA
- Andrii Kubai, Ex-Engineering Manager at Sweetrush, Technical Director of Integrations & Account Manager
- Valerii Zadavysvichka, Head of the Digital Learning Department at UKRGASBANK
- Svitlana Ponomarenko, Independent Online Learning Expert
And so, we reached the final day – and, frankly, it was not the easiest one. After all, it was about evaluation. This is where ANALITICS comes in. The morning of the third day began with a presentation by Olesia Lytvynenko from Watsons Ukraine, who shifted the focus from surface-level figures to tangible change. The percentage of employees who clicked the “complete course” button is no longer a meaningful indicator of a program’s success.
True analytics comes into play when you can see how the acquired knowledge translates into behavioral changes in the workplace, whether it speeds up the onboarding of new hires, and whether it affects the operational metrics of specific departments.
Immediately after the presentation, the most intense phase began – the closing mentoring sessions. Here, the teams stress-tested the entire framework they had built over three days, linking their learning formats directly to real business metrics. Together with Olesia Lytvynenko, the following experts helped them integrate these metrics into a cohesive, functional system:
- Ihor Bekh, Head of L&D at the Kyiv School of Economics
- Oleksandr Slipets, Learning and Development Manager at UKRNAFTA
- Myroslav Botsula, E-learning Integrator & Founder of LMS Collaborator
- Viktoriia Balachuk, CEO of LMS Collaborator
- Andrii Kubai, ex-Engineering Manager at Sweetrush, Technical Director of Integrations & Account Manager
What El’Lab#09 Left Behind: In the Words of Its Participants and Mentors
Kateryna Kolupaieva, NovaPay
The NovaPay team headed home with ideas for automating reporting via API, which will free up more time for learning materials development. They also left with confirmation that content today must be concise and quick.
«This is my third time at El’Lab, and I am deeply grateful to the organizers for this event. It’s a place where you can connect with a diverse group of people, discuss the challenges you are facing, and gain new insights you can apply in your company. El’Lab is an ideal environment for discovering and applying new ideas».
Viktoriia Oleshko, Consultant in Knowledge Management and Lean Six Sigma & Facilitator
Viktoriia traditionally serves as a mentor on the first day. She helps companies establish a structured approach to knowledge management. Viktoriia says she is pleased that, despite these challenging times, five companies have found the means to invest in their L&D teams:
The NovaPay team headed home with ideas for automating reporting via API, which will free up more time for learning materials development. They also left with confirmation that content today must be concise and quick.
«The quality of Ukrainian case studies is improving, and we already have world-class expertise».
Tetiana Lovchynska, UKRSIBBANK
Tetiana took part in El’Lab for the second year in a row, and UKRSIBBANK has long been a friend of the event, as its teams have attended several bootcamps.
«El’Lab is a chance to step away from work and enter an engaging atmosphere where you can exchange experiences, connect with like-minded people, find inspiration, and return to your day-to-day work with fresh ideas».
This time, we were also joined by Myroslav Botsula, the founder of El’Lab. He is currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so the chance for the entire team to gather again means a great deal to us.
One of the best insights came from El’Lab mentor Valentyna Grinchenko. When asked about the value of mentorship, she smiled and spoke about friendship.
«The most important thing is the community. Many of my fellow mentors have become my friends – that’s something money can’t buy. And there’s nowhere else where people would agree to spend three days talking with me about e-learning. Only here».
The next El’Lab will be a special one – our tenth anniversary edition.
We are keeping the format unchanged: hands-on practice, a cozy, private setting, and in-depth project reviews with El’Lab mentors. To maintain this intimate atmosphere, we keep the number of teams small, so, as always, spots are limited.
If you’d like to take a break from day-to-day operations and explore new ideas, join us. You can submit a preliminary application now.
Register and see you in fall 2027!
