Tablet screen showing 'Bridging the Gap for Professional Career Growth'

BRIDGING THE GAP IN PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

Learning Experience Design | Performance Improvement | UDI Informed Design | Micro learning Development

ROLE

Instructional Designer Led research, strategy, storyboarding, and development in Rise 360.

AUDIENCE

TOOLS

Education Specialist

Paraprofessional

Rise 360

Adobe Illustrator

Experience Bridging the Gap

THE CHALLENGE

Support staff communication in classroom settings was unintentionally increasing cognitive load and stress.

Vague directions, assumed alignment, and inconsistent language created friction (not just between adults) for students relying on predictable support systems.

The issue wasn't a lack of goodwill. It was a lack of intentional communication design.

An animated video showcasing the journey of bridging the gap in communication. Created with Adobe Illustrator, it features a dynamic animation of a woman engaging with two viewers as they watch on a tablet.

THE STRATEGY

I reframed professional communication as a performance system, not a personality trait.

Using Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) and cognitive load principles, I designed a targeted toolkit focused on three observable behaviors:

Replace vague cues with descriptive language
Eliminate assumed alignment through verification
Use person-first, clarity-driven language

The goal?

Shift team culture from reactive communication to intentional design.

THE SOLUTION

An interactive Rise 360 micro learning module that functions as a performance-based communication toolkit.

The experience includes:

Scenario-driven assessments rooted in real classroom moments
Interactive prompts modeling the "Listen & Repeat" verification method
Rewriting exercises that require applied skill demonstration
Clean, structured layouts to reduce cognitive friction

Designed for immediate application in high-demand school environments.

Tablet with a knowledge check question on descriptive communication

DESIGN DECISIONS

Why UDI?

Communication must be perceivable, operable, and understandable, especially for colleagues and students with diverse sensory or processing needs.

Why Scenario-Based Assessment?

Communication is behavioral. Participants needed to practice rewriting and clarifying, not just define terminology.

Why Cognitive Load Optimization?

Busy professionals require streamlined, immediately actionable training. The interface prioritizes clarity, spacing, and reduced visual overwhelm.

IMPACT

This project demonstrates my ability to:

Diagnose soft-skills performance gaps
Translate inclusion frameworks into actionable behaviors
Design measurable communication outcomes
Reduce cognitive strain through intentional learning architecture
Build scalable digital toolkits for real-world application

This project reinforced important insight:

Misalignment is rarely about intention. It is about system design.
Effective communication training must move beyond "be respectful" messaging and toward structured, observable behaviors that reduce ambiguity.
Designing for clarity is designing for equity.

By synchronizing adult communication systems, the module supports greater stability for both staff and students.

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