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CDA Portal | Unlock Your Potential, One Argument at a Time

Industry

Education / EdTech

Target Markets

USA

Website

https://www.cdadebate.com/

Services

Debate classes, travel team coaching, academic skill-building, workshops


Civic Debate Academy (CDA) is a premier debate and public speaking program in the United States. Focused on empowering tomorrow’s leaders, CDA offers online and in-person classes and stands as a #1 ranked competitive debate program. With students achieving top national rankings and placements in Ivy League universities, CDA’s curriculum merges rigorous skill development with real-world applications to help learners excel in competitions and life.

Problem statement

Initially, CDA lacked a dedicated portal, requiring a complete buildout of user management systems from scratch—including functionality for students, parents, coaches, and administrators. Everything from registration and scheduling to payments, notifications, and performance tracking had to be developed and integrated into a single, cohesive platform.
Additionally, the previous CDA website was outdated and failed to effectively communicate the organization’s mission, values, and program offerings.

Multi-Role & Portal Access

Students, parents, coaches, and admins each require distinct capabilities and views. The system had to smoothly unify all these roles while keeping user experiences straightforward.

Easy Registration & Payment

With multiple payment methods—credit/debit cards, Affirm, ACH, plus subscription renewals—CDA needed a seamless and secure payment flow under one umbrella.



Attendance & Alerts

Parents required notifications when students missed classes, while coaches needed an easy way to mark attendance and provide performance feedback.

Digital Signing & Onboarding

The outdated process of printing, signing, and scanning waivers and consent forms was cumbersome. CDA wanted e-signature functionality to streamline onboarding for new families.

Our proposed solution

Modern Technology Stack

  • Marketing Website: Developed on Webflow, the website ensured marketing pages are visually engaging and easy to update without deep technical knowledge.
  • User Portal: Next.js (frontend) + Django (backend), integrated with Tailwind and HeroUI for efficient, streamlined UI development.

Role Management & Portals

  • Students, Parents, Coaches, and Admins each got specialized dashboards and permissions, ensuring everyone has the right tools at their fingertips.
  • Guided Onboarding for students and parents to help them move smoothly from registration to first class.



Secure, Flexible Payments

  • Stripe integration for credit/debit cards, Affirm, ACH, plus subscription models with auto-renewal.
  • Parents have full control to update payment methods, cancel subscriptions, or pause them as needed.

Design strategy

For the design, we adhered to minimalist and professional aesthetics, using the brand color palette for clarity and tech-driven UI elements. We focused on seamless user flow with well-defined CTAs to enhance conversions. A mobile-first approach ensured a smooth cross-device experience, while trust indicators like certifications and customer testimonials were prominently displayed to boost credibility.

User Registration

A prominent "Sign up" CTA for both the Parent and Student personas. Also a backup Google sign-in option are clearly visible.

Data Visualization

Displayed complex information through visual formats like graphs, charts, and interactive diagrams to enhance understanding and engagement.

Consistency

Used uniform visual elements, interaction patterns, and layout structures across the portal to create a predictable and cohesive user experience.

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Group 1321314781 (1) (1)
Group 1321314782 (1)

Development phase

Multi-Portal System

Four roles (Student, Parent, Coach, Admin) each with a dedicated, user-friendly portal.

Parent-Child Management

Parents can oversee multiple children’s profiles from a single view, controlling enrollments and monitoring performance.

Flexible Payment Methods

Integrated Stripe offering credit/debit cards, Affirm, ACH, and subscription renewals.

Guided Onboarding

Step-by-step tutorials for students and parents, easing the learning curve.

Real-Time Notifications

Reminders for upcoming classes, attendance alerts, and direct messages from coaches.

Coach Tools

Coaches can track attendance, reschedule classes, and provide performance feedback directly within the portal.

E-Signature Agreements

Fully digital consents and waivers, eliminating manual paperwork.

Admin Oversight

Admins can manage or adjust user roles, check transactions, customize notifications, and maintain a bird’s-eye view of platform health.

Scalable Infrastructure

Hosted on Hetzner, media on AWS S3, caching via Redis, ensuring reliable performance for a growing community.

Tech stack

By integrating these advanced features, we successfully transformed the CDA portal into a powerful, data-driven, and user-friendly web application, enhancing institution visibility, searchability, and user engagement while providing the CDA team with full control over content and analytics.
Frontend & Backend

Webflow

Frontend

Next.js

Portal Backend

Django

Database

Postgres

CSS Library

Tailwind

UI Library

HeroUI

SSO

Google Authenticator

Server

Hetzner

Media Storage

AWS S3

Caching

Redis

Payment Gateway

Next.js

Server Control panel

Coolify

Analytics

Posthog

Challenges they overcame

  • 1. Complex Role-Based Access: Balancing four distinct user experiences within one platform required meticulous planning. We carefully designed a role-based permission system in Django to simplify admin controls and maintain security.
  • 2. Subscription & One-Time Payments: Handling multiple payment options plus subscription renewals can get messy. We integrated Stripe’s advanced API to unify various payment flows into a single, frictionless process for users.
  • 3. Attendance Tracking & Alert Mechanism: Parents needed real-time alerts if a class was missed or rescheduled. We implemented an event-driven notification engine that dispatches alerts instantly through email and in-portal messaging.
  • 4. E-Signature Compliance: Implementing legally compliant electronic signatures demanded robust e-sign frameworks. We integrated tested e-sign solutions, ensuring that signed documents remain secure and tamper-proof.
  • 5. Ensuring Scalability & Performance: With an expanding user base, the platform had to handle peak loads during popular class times. By leveraging Next.js (server-side rendering), Django’s robust backend, Redis caching, and AWS S3 for media, we kept the system responsive and future-proof.

Outcome & Impact

  • 1. Streamlined Enrollment & Onboarding: Prospective families can register online, sign agreements digitally, set up payments, and start classes almost immediately-cutting manual workflows and paperwork significantly.
  • 2. Enhanced Parent Engagement: Parents love the ability to oversee every aspect of their child’s activities—from class attendance to coach feedback—on one unified portal, with notifications keeping them always in the loop.
  • 3. Improved Coach Efficiency: Coaches now spend less time on administrative tasks (like attendance marking and scheduling) and more on personalized feedback and lesson planning.
  • 4. Scalable Growth: CDA can confidently expand to more classes and larger cohorts, knowing the infrastructure can support real-time interactions without performance dips.
  • 5. Positive Community Feedback: A modern, user-friendly interface aligns with CDA’s reputation as a premier debate academy. Students, parents, and staff alike report smoother communication and an enriched learning environment.

Client feedback

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur!”

Alex Johnson

Ceo , Machine Maze

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