CASE STUDIES

Hybrid, asynchronous, & multimodular formats grounded in cognitive science & Accessibility (WCAG) standards.

Case Study # 1

Safe Pathways: S.C.A.M. Awareness Program

Safe Pathways: Designing Prevention Where None Existed

This wasn't an abstract design brief. I spent six years living and teaching in northern Thailand, where half my students were displaced refugees and hill tribe communities - Hmong, Karen, and others navigating borders, languages, and systems that were rarely designed with them in mind. That proximity shaped how I read the DEPDC brief, and it shaped every design decision that followed.

The Problem

DEPDC/GMS is a 25-year-old anti-trafficking NGO based in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand, working across the Greater Mekong Subregion - which includes Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China. The crisis has intensified with the Rakhine and Shan state conflict, making trafficking through unsafe migration more urgent than ever. And critically, people are being lured with promises of lucrative jobs, only to find themselves forced to run scams - facing beatings, starvation, and electric shocks if they refuse.

DEPDC runs impressive, well-develoed programs across the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). But a thorough front-end analysis revealed a critical gap: everything in place addressed harm after it occurred. There was no structured, skills-based training to help young people recognize and resist manipulation before they were exploited. In a region where scams increasingly serve as entry points into trafficking and forced labour - part of a global crisis affecting an estimated 27.6 million people - the absence of preventative education wasn't a minor gap. It was the gap.

The Audience

Targeted learners are adolescents and young adults in the GMS. They multilingual, many with interrupted formal education, operating in low-bandwidth environments, and carrying varying degrees of trauma from displacement from the war in Myanmar. are stateless, displaced, multilingual youth and adults at active risk of being trafficked into scam operations or exploited by them.Designing for this audience meant that clarity, cultural authenticity, and psychological safety were foundational.

The Framework: S.C.A.M. Model

Working backward from the final application scenarios, I kept asking: what are the transferable skills a learner could use in any scam situation, not just the ones I designed for? That question rewrote the task analysis and gave me the S.C.A.M. model:

STOP: notice the warning signs and pause before reacting
CHECK: verify facts from trusted sources, not promises
ASK: activate critical thinking and trusted community support
MOVE: take safe, protective action, for onself and others

Higher-order thinking skills were deliberately embded among the CHECK and ASK phasesThe MOVE step evolved late in the design process. As I researched how scam networks operate - deliberately targeting and isolating individuals - I recognized that the communities I was designing for are inherently collective. Protection isn't just personal. Adding "protect others" to MOVE wasn't only a pedagogical choice, it was a cultural one.

The Design Approach

Conducted front-end analysis with board members, volunteers, and community stakeholders to define learner needs, performance outcomes, and design constraints for at-risk youth and displaced adults

A blended model: eLearning Module 1 built in Storyline for foundational skill-building Every element was optimized for low-bandwidth, mobile-first delivery.

Trauma-informed design principles ran throughout: scaffolded complexity, safe-pause prompts, non-judgmental feedback language, and optional reflection protocols. Learners were never pressured to disclose or perform.

Custom designed buttons, original scenario avatars and empathy anchors purposefully designed to increase fidelity and cultural relevance for the vulnerable refugee population.)

Researched regionally prevalent scam patterns and translated them into scenario-based learning experiences

Followed by an ILT for Module 2, where applied practice and community discussion with the deepest, most complex scams that involve layers of corruption from even trusted government officials.

Deliverables

Instructional Design Document (IDD)
Needs Analysis and Front-End Research
Learner Personas (Naw Mu and Krit)
Storyboard
eLearning Module — Storyline
ILT Workshop Deck and Facilitator Guide — Canva / Google Slides
Participant Guide
Job Aids and Learning Resources — Canva
Visual Style Guide and Design System — Canva

Tools: Storyline, Canva, Google Workspace, ChatGPT, Gemini, NightCafe

What I'd Change

Given more time and resources, I would translate the full course and make it openly available to any NGO working in this space. The S.C.A.M. model was designed to be scalable beyond DEPDC, and right now, language is the barrier standing between this framework and the communities that need it most.

The DEPDC Safe Pathways Asset Library

Overview

[MVP in progress]

Tools

ChatGPT (AI-generated custom graphics)
Canva (graphic editing and layout refinement)
Claude Ai & Claude Design

Click the image:
iSPring MVP in HTML.

Learner Matrix

6-Phase Tasks Analysis (Skills)

Case Study #2

DPD Framework: Dreamer Planner Doer Behavioral Persona-Swtiching

Converting a book’s conceptual narrative into a cohesive design system and learning ecosytem. Working without existing documentation or prior models, I translated the book’s philosophical descriptions of the personas into measurable behaviors, structured pathways, and a practical, scalable learning blueprint for B2B and B2C use.

The Challenge:

As a growing startup, the organization was in its preliminary phases of establishing onboarding processes, workflow structure, and design systems. Roles were emerging, communication channels were decentralized, and there were no frameworks for curriculum design, evaluation, documentation, decision pathways, or cross-team alignment. Core structures such as tool usage, shared documentation, and early governance practices were still maturing, creating opportunities to help bring clarity and alignment across teams.

The Strategic Solution:

In response to these emerging needs, I contributed to strengthening clarity, alignment, and design strategy across the organization through several key initiatives.

Design System & Learning Architecture

Developed the DPD curriculum map and learning blueprint, creating the organization’s first structured learning architecture grounded in research and industry best practice.
Created the complete storyboard for Module 1, integrating narrative design, scenario-based learning, multimedia sequencing, and accessibility-aligned UX writing.
Built the MVP for Module 1, applying the design blueprint, storyboard, and style guide to produce a functioning prototype consistent with visual and pedagogical standards.
Refined the framework’s 6-Phase Design Cycle by developing the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes (KSAs) for each phase and transforming the final stage into an intentional iterative-improvement loop.
Created the DPD Learner Matrix, aligning Humility, Respect, and Trust with measurable behaviors (engagement, learning transfer, collaboration) and mapping them to evaluation pathways informed by LTEM and Kirkpatrick.
Designed the DPD style guide and custom iconography, and contributed to persona/character development, ensuring a unified visual and brand experience across learning materials.

Governance, Leadership & Collaboration

Consulted on leadership and governance, supporting emerging communication norms, shared documentation practices, accountability structures, and decision pathways.
Promoted alignment across councils, helping contributors collaborate more cohesively as roles, tools, and expectations continued to evolve.
Advised on workflow consistency and tool usage, reinforcing best practices for cross-team communication during periods of ambiguity and rapid change.
Supported early development of shared rituals and language, contributing to collaboration practices aligned with the core values of Humility, Respect, Trust, and Commitment.

Impact:

My contributions helped the organization move from ambiguity to emerging clarity by establishing a shared learning architecture that now guides all future DPD modules. The Learner Matrix and evaluation pathways introduced evidence-based methods for measuring engagement and learning transfer, shifting the team toward a more data-informed design culture. The style guide, documentation norms, and governance improvements enabled clearer stakeholder alignment and reduced inconsistency across councils. These systems now provide the scalability and structure needed for predictable collaboration and serve as the operational baseline for DPD’s learning strategy and the development of the world’s first Persona Behavioral Operating System for Dynamic Persona Switching.

Developing the structural foundation for the Dreamer-Planner-Doer (DPD) leadership ecosystem. This phase focused on transforming a conceptual philosophy into a high-integrity, modular learning framework.

Navigating significant stakeholder misalignment around learner audience definition, including correcting foundational assumptions about generational cohorts and their developmental appropriateness, while maintaining project momentum and instructional integrity within a cross-functional team experiencing personnel instability.

Designed for a B2B and B2C behavioral science SaaS certification program, I created this modular curriculum blueprint behavioral framework into a structured adult learning architecture. extracted from 250 pages + souce material.

Beginning with backward design, I identified the terminal performance outcomes first, then engineered the learning scope, module sequence, and evaluation strategy to support progressive mastery across five fluency levels.

I architected a 5-module digital learning experience by deconstructing the Dreamer, Planner, Doer (DPD) framework into high-leverage behavioral competencies. Collaborating with the L&D team, I curated the learning architecture, strategically scafolding the instructional design to pivot from 'content coverage' to measurable behavioral transfer.

Each module includes defined learning objectives, interaction types, and assessment alignment that creates a reusable, scalable blueprint that supports both self-paced online delivery.

To dismantle ego friction, the 'Persona Busters' were engineered to drive the narrative of real-world scenarios in a haunted corporate office. Learners defeat 'spectral saboteurs' (an array of personified frictions in professional environment). I designed competency gates across the five modules to move learners across a spectrum of LTEM tiers and Kirkpatrick evaluation levels. This result is a scientifically grounded, scalable e-learning solution built for enterprise-level performance.

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