Leading Through Conflict is a concept scenario-based eLearning project that immerses frontline managers in a realistic workplace conflict, allowing them to practice communication and decision-making in a safe environment.
Audience
Frontline managers and team leaders responsible for navigating interpersonal conflict within cross-functional teams.
Responsibilities
Needs Analysis
Action Mapping
Storyboarding
Visual Design
eLearning Development
Tools Used
Articulate Storyline 360
Mindmeister
Figma
Google Docs
Adobe Photoshop
Midjourney
ChatGPT
CloudCore Systems is a fictional engineering company experiencing recurring conflict within its cross-functional teams. A simulated needs analysis informed by research on psychological safety, leadership communication, and conflict resolution revealed that managers lacked the soft skills to resolve conflict on their teams and needed opportunities to practice difficult conversations—not additional knowledge.
To address this lack of conflict resolution soft skills, I designed a scenario-based eLearning experience where learners safely practice realistic conversations, receive immediate feedback, and build the confidence to foster psychological safety before applying these skills on the job.
I followed a performance-centered design process that moved from needs analysis and action mapping through storyboarding, visual design, prototyping, and development. Each phase built on the previous one, ensuring the final experience aligned with both the learning objectives and the desired workplace behaviors.
Using Cathy Moore's Action Mapping methodology, I identified the high-priority behaviors managers needed to perform—including recognizing emotions, responding with empathy, asking thoughtful questions, and guiding productive conversations. Guided by Relational Wisdom 360 and research on psychological safety, every activity aligned with the business goal of increasing psychological safety scores by 12% within six months as newly promoted managers addressed emerging interpersonal conflict.
Action Map: Identifies key actions managers need to take to achieve the desired goal; helps focus the training on only the pertinent actions.
I created a visual storyboard on Figma to establish the narrative, learner interactions, and instructional flow before development.
Learners step into the role of a newly promoted manager, while branching scenarios and realistic consequences reinforce decision-making and Mark, the mentor character, provides optional coaching throughout the experience.
The design incorporated learner control principles alongside key elements of Gagné's Nine Events of Instruction by communicating clear objectives, providing realistic practice, and delivering immediate feedback.
Storyboards: Describes key content of every slide and corresponding programming notes in Storyline 360, with a visual rough draft of the slide.
Using Figma, I established the project's visual identity through mood boards, style guides, wireframes, and AI-assisted concept art before moving into development.
Midjourney and ChatGPT accelerated the creative process by generating expressive characters, cinematic environments, and stylistic variations while maintaining consistency across the entire learning experience.
Style Guide: Maintained visual consistency across more than 40 storyline slides.
AI-generated visuals established a cohesive visual style while supporting emotional storytelling through expressive characters and cinematic environments.
Wireframes refined layouts and interaction patterns before high-fidelity design and development.
Using Articulate Storyline 360, I developed an interactive prototype to validate functionality before building the complete learning experience. Feedback from peer instructional designers led me to simplify navigation and strengthen the consequences following early decision points.
One of my primary goals was to create a cinematic experience that immersed learners in the emotional weight of difficult workplace conversations. AI-assisted facial expressions, body language, varied camera angles, and intentional moments of silence helped learners experience tension, uncertainty, and resolution before making decisions.
To reduce cognitive load, I removed unnecessary visual elements, synchronized dialogue with character reactions, and used conversational language throughout, following Mayer’s Multimedia Principles.
Because this was a concept project, formal learner performance data was not collected. However, the project demonstrates a complete instructional design process—from needs analysis through evaluation—and demonstrates my ability to design performance-focused learning experiences that combine realistic scenarios with intentional visual design.
If implemented in a real organization, the next steps would include pilot testing with target learners, measuring changes in psychological safety scores, and refining the experience based on learner and stakeholder feedback.