Architecture Roadmap for Subscription Management Overhaul
Igor Khatybov
Architecture Roadmap for Subscription Management Overhaul
Client: National media publisher with gated content and user subscriptions
Role: Project Planner • Systems Strategist • Architecture Whisperer
Timeline: ~2 months
Stack: Custom Subscription Platform, WordPress, API Layer, GA4
🚨 The Challenge
Hundreds of cloned modules layered with inconsistent logic
Up to 30+ API calls per page load, triggering performance failures and recursive bugs
Invisible dependencies across three codebases, creating security vulnerabilities and surprise outages
Every minor update posed a risk to core business systems—user flows, analytics, navigation stability
The business couldn’t build, test, or scale without risking systemic failures.
🧠 My Role
I was brought in to untangle the system, assess technical debt, and architect a clean, scalable, API-first structure—delivering a step-by-step recovery and modernization roadmap.
🔧 Solutions Delivered
Performed a full staging audit, identifying logic duplication, critical paths, and API call bottlenecks
Mapped fire zones and isolated high-risk dependency clusters across API, App, and DB layers
Designed a modular, API-first layered architecture to cleanly separate business logic and platform operations
Developed detailed recovery staging plans with multi-phase technical milestones
Built comprehensive visual diagrams outlining new platform layers, access points, and service boundaries
Created actionable, team-specific implementation tickets to execute recovery cleanly
Integrated GA4 re-alignment planning into the system rebuild for future data integrity
📈 Business Outcomes
Delivered a clear and actionable transition roadmap adopted across development teams
Projected 30% platform performance improvement by eliminating redundant API logic alone
Estimated 60% reduction in developer debugging hours and 70% increase in operational efficiency for business teams
Introduced governance clarity to reduce future side effects and technical risk
Equipped leadership with a scalable platform strategy to support future subscription and content expansion
* * *👉 Your platform should scale. Not surprise you.
Let’s untangle the chaos and build something you can trust.
Like this project
Posted Apr 23, 2025
Three codebases, 30 API calls per page, invisible logic dependencies. Delivered a phased plan and system design that’s now driving performance and sanity.
