MERN LMS Performance & UX Overhaul

I run an LMS built on the full MERN stack (React 18, Node/Express, MongoDB, Webpack) that serves roughly 3 500 registered students, with 500 daily active users and peak bursts of 1 500+ concurrent sessions. The platform is beginning to show its age: pages load slowly, some requests time out, fonts jump between screens, and the layout breaks on smaller devices. I need a seasoned MERN expert to audit the codebase, address the bottlenecks, and refresh the interface so we can scale confidently.

My top-level priorities are:
• API/request failures
• Database query optimisation
• Responsive issues on all breakpoints

For the UI/UX pass I want:
• Consistent typography and component styling across every page
• Sharper responsiveness from mobile through desktop
• A modern visual lift that still respects our existing brand palette

Areas most in need of refactor or polish are the student dashboard, admin dashboard, and several core learning modules.

Scope of work
1. Deep-dive code and infrastructure review (front-end bundles, server logic, Mongo queries, caching strategy).
2. Concrete action plan outlining whether a targeted optimisation or a partial rebuild offers the better ROI.
3. Implementation of approved fixes: query rewrites, index tuning, React performance tweaks, cache layer (Redis or similar), and cleanup of unused assets.
4. UI/UX refinement with lightweight component library or styled-components to unify look and feel, plus responsive QA.
5. Stress-test and benchmark results against current metrics to confirm improvements.

Please return:
• An estimated timeline with milestones,
• A ballpark cost,
• Your recommendation on optimisation vs. rebuild,
• Any infrastructure upgrades you deem necessary (CDN, autoscaling, CI/CD, monitoring).

I’m ready to share the repo, current Lighthouse reports, and New Relic logs once we agree on next steps. Let’s get this platform running smoothly for the next wave of learners.