From Game Night to Learning Design: How a Spark Became an Immersive Experience
It started with a game night, a dusty box of Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 1970s, and a realization: learning doesn’t have to be linear. That spark turned into the Coaching Crucible, a scenario-based eLearning experience designed to let users explore coaching as a fluid, contextual practice. Not every coaching moment begins with a scheduled meeting. Some happen in hallways, during data dives, or mid-conversation. I wanted to design a course that reflected that reality, where feedback is nuanced, navigation is intentional, and every choice reveals a new tool to build with.
Coaching has always felt like a skill that deserved more space, especially for those just starting out. Not the formalized “schedule a session” kind, but the kind that happens in passing moments, sparked by empathy, curiosity, or observation. I’ve long wanted to create a beginners' course that doesn’t just teach coaching techniques but redefines what coaching can be. One that validates hallway conversations, quick pivots during a meeting, and the kinds of questions that change how a team thinks without ever labeling it as “coaching.” In building this course, I saw an opportunity to design something immersive: a system where coaching tools were unlocked by context, not chronology, and where users could practice responding to real workplace dynamics as they unfold.
The spark gave me my theme, Choose Your Own Adventure, but the real challenge was figuring out how to make it work. I wanted learners to feel like they were in control, navigating coaching scenarios with autonomy and intention. But behind that freedom, I needed structure, gentle nudges, blocked paths, cues that quietly guided their journey. Just like coaching, the navigation had to adapt to context. Early versions offered too much choice too soon, and learners drifted. So, I reworked it. I began weaving in visual metaphors and interaction logic that reflected real coaching instincts. Feedback wasn't a generic button; it surfaced when a learner observed something meaningful. Tools were revealed through timing, not lists. That’s where it clicked. I wasn’t just designing interactions, I was crafting a mindset shift. Discovery felt earned, not assigned.
To deepen the thematic experience, I leaned into a visual style inspired by the original Choose Your Own Adventure era, saturated colors, retro typefaces, and stylized character design that felt more like storybook than slide deck. These characters weren’t just decoration; they acted as narrative anchors within scenarios, reflecting workplace personalities and coaching archetypes. I directed their creation to match specific tone shifts in the course, from playful moments to reflective decision points. Coaching tools appeared dynamically, based on the learner’s observations and the “state” of each associate within a scene. Whether dealing with defensiveness, disengagement, or curiosity, learners chose which tool to apply, giving them both control and consequence. The look wasn’t about replicating the 1970s; it was about evoking a sense of possibility, choice, and personality-driven narrative that those books captured so well.
Instructional design doesn’t always begin with a performance analysis or a stakeholder brief. Sometimes it starts with a spark, a retro game night, a remembered book cover, a passing curiosity. This course reminded me that inspiration is everywhere: in hallway conversations, in visual metaphors, in the way we wish learning felt. By pairing narrative with strategy, I built an experience that helps learners practice coaching as both art and action. You can explore the full Coaching Crucible experience here and who knows, maybe your next great course idea is already hiding on your bookshelf.
Design isn’t just about solving problems—it’s about recognizing sparks when they flicker and choosing to fan them into something remarkable.
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