Project Overview

Prototype Showcase | Tools: Mindsmith AI, ChatGPT

This is a portfolio prototype, not a client project. It was built to demonstrate how AI-powered authoring tools can accelerate scenario-based learning development without sacrificing instructional quality or learner engagement.

The Design Problem

Customer recovery is one of the highest-stakes skill sets in any service-oriented organization. When employees are underprepared for emotionally charged interactions, the consequences are real: customer churn, damaged brand perception, and escalated complaints that could have been resolved in a single conversation.

The challenge with teaching these skills is that information alone doesn't build them. De-escalation, empathy, and recovery require practice in realistic, consequence-driven environments. A slide deck won't get you there. A branching simulation will.

My Role

Learning Architect | Learning Experience Designer

I owned the full design process from problem framing through prototype delivery, including the scenario architecture, branching logic, dialogue writing, feedback design, and AI-assisted development workflow.

The Approach

This project is built on a core instructional principle: people learn complex interpersonal skills by doing, not by reading about them. The simulation places learners inside a real customer conversation immediately after a service failure, where every decision they make shapes how the interaction unfolds.

Rather than presenting best practices as content to absorb, the scenario lets learners experience the natural consequences of their choices. A dismissive response escalates the situation. An empathetic one opens the door to recovery. The feedback isn't just corrective; it coaches learners on the reasoning behind effective customer recovery strategies, building both skill and judgment.

AI-Assisted Development Workflow

One of the explicit goals of this project was to explore how generative AI tools can accelerate the instructional design process while keeping a human designer in the decision-making seat. 

Here's how the workflow ran:

• Used ChatGPT to generate the initial course framework, learning objectives, and storyboard structure

• Used Mindsmith AI, an AI-powered authoring tool designed for rapid course generation, to design the scenario flow, build decision branches, and prototype the full experience

• Refined all dialogue, feedback, and decision consequences manually to ensure instructional accuracy, realism, and alignment with customer experience best practices

This workflow moved the project from concept to working prototype significantly faster than traditional development, while maintaining the quality standards a human-centered design approach requires. It also demonstrates how AI tools can handle the scaffolding so the designer can focus on the strategy and craft.

Design Highlights

• Branching scenario architecture with multiple outcome paths including customer recovery, escalation, and churn

• Realistic workplace dialogue written to reflect authentic service failure conversations

• Progressive decision complexity that increases as the interaction develops

• Empathy coaching feedback tied to each decision point, explaining not just what went wrong but why

• Natural consequences built into the scenario structure so learners experience the impact of their choices rather than just being told about them

The Solution

The finished prototype runs approximately 15 minutes and is fully interactive. You can engage with it directly using the link below.  A 90-second video walkthrough is also available if you'd prefer a guided preview.