Instructional Design Challenge | Coalridge Grills

The Challenge: This project was completed as part of a monthly design challenge through The Learning Designer's Academy, which tasks instructional designers with solving a fictional client brief under real-world constraints. For this challenge, Coalridge Grills — a fictional charcoal grill manufacturer — needed an eLearning course to accompany their "Get Fired Up" product bundle, accessible via QR code at the point of purchase. The course needed to give new grillers support for the skills that intimidate beginners most: safe ignition, briquette prep, vent control, and heat distribution. 

My Approach: I designed an interactive scenario-based course that puts learners in the role of a first-time griller working toward a perfect, medium-rare burger. Rather than presenting grilling as a list of instructions, I built decision-based interactions that mirror real trial-and-error — including a drag-and-drop doneness check with a digital thermometer, a vent-control simulation tied to changing charcoal states, and a branching scenario where learner choices around timing and heat directly affect the outcome of the meal.

Skills Demonstrated:

• Scenario and branching design for procedural, hands-on skills

• Interactive elements, HTML

• Visual design aligned to a provided brand style guide

Tools: Articulate Rise 360 / Claude Design/ Mighty

Identifying Counterfeit Currency: A Vibe-Coded Teller Training Proof of Concept

Winning Submission-Design Challenge | Cascade State Bank

The Challenge: This project was completed as part of a monthly design challenge through The Learning Designer's Academy, focused on exploring "vibe coding" — building eLearning experiences through natural language direction and iteration rather than a traditional authoring interface. The format asked designers to select a past Design Challenge topic as a foundation and reinterpret a slice of that course entirely within Claude Design, shifting the focus from screen-by-screen construction to shaping structure, interaction, and flow through prompting.

For this challenge, I revisited a currency-identification training topic, reimagining it as a teller training module for Cascade State Bank, a fictional bank. Tellers needed a fast, practical way to learn the five core security features on U.S. Federal Reserve notes and apply that knowledge at the counter — without treating it like a dry compliance module.

My Approach: Rather than building a full course, I focused on a meaningful slice of the experience: an interactive breakdown of a real note's security features. Learners tap numbered markers directly on a bill to explore each feature, then move into a tabbed comparison view that unpacks the purpose, mechanism, and counterfeit-detection logic behind each one. I also built a "zoom inspection" interaction where hovering over the note triggers a live digital loupe, letting learners inspect microprinting and texture details the way a teller would in the field.

To reinforce that knowledge in context, I designed a branching, scenario-based interaction that puts learners at the teller line during a live customer deposit. As a customer hands over cash, learners have to apply what they've learned — noticing subtle red flags like a smooth, texture-less surface or a color-shifting numeral that fails to shift — and decide how to respond, just as they would on the job.

Skills Demonstrated:

• Translating a performance problem into prompts and iterative direction, rather than manual screen-building

• Designing hands-on, exploratory interactions (hotspot exploration, tabbed comparison, hover-to-zoom) suited to a "look closely and verify" skill

• Maintaining a cohesive, on-brand visual identity across an AI-generated interface

Tools: Claude Design