lab notebook prototypes · proofs · in progress
caboodle labs

where behavior design
meets ai experimentation.

Personal projects, prototypes, and proofs-of-concept. Each one testing whether AI actually changes how people work, or just ships features.

  1. 01

    Build the tool, not the feature. Labs exist to solve actual friction points that show up mid-project.

  2. 02

    Ground every prototype in learning science. Novelty is cheap. Behavioral evidence is the bar.

  3. 03

    Ship in public. Every experiment is a working URL you can visit, not a case study of what could be.

current experiments · 2026

the bench.

Seven prototypes currently in rotation. Each has a live URL, a thesis, and a next-step roadmap. Click through to the working version.

    parallax + scrollytelling · interaction design live · experiment

    reading the rainforest.

    Three layers of rainforest, canopy to floor, stacked into one continuous scroll. You start in the bright crown and sink to the dark floor, and the whole scene runs on a single input: how far down the page you are. No timeline, no play button. Scroll it live, in place, or open it full screen.

    Thesis: Most digital learning treats scroll as a way to get from one box to the next. But scroll is motion, and motion carries feeling. Testing what that means for how people move through, and remember, an experience.

    • parallax
    • scrollytelling
    • html / css / js
    • scroll-driven
    • claude code
    the canopy layer, where the light lands first
    fig. 001 · the canopy, where the light lands first
    scroll it
    ai-built tool · workflow design live · 24-hour build

    inline stakeholder review system.

    A feedback workspace built directly into a client landing page using Claude Code. Pins anchored to exact positions, color-coded reviewers, a slide-out panel that groups comments by section with resolve tracking. No email threads. No annotated screenshots. No "jump on a quick call?"

    Thesis: Exploring whether AI-assisted code generation can solve real workflow problems mid-project, not just build features, but build tools, with a 24-hour turnaround and no design system to start from.

    • claude code
    • vibe coding
    • workflow design
    the feedback panel, five open and two resolved, pinned to the page
    fig. 002 · five open, two resolved, right on the page
    view experiment
    feedback design · adaptive ux live · prototype

    emotion-aware feedback system.

    Same scenario. Same learner response. Three completely different coaching outputs depending on emotional state. Submit once, see all three patterns. Submit three times and the system overrides your slider when it detects repeated struggle.

    Thesis: Grounded in Anthropic's April 2026 interpretability research on functional emotion in LLMs. Testing whether acknowledging emotional context before delivering feedback improves receptivity, and what that design pattern looks like in practice.

    • emotion detection
    • adaptive ux
    • self-report signal
    • multi-turn coaching
    one slider from distressed to confident
    fig. 003 · one slider from distressed to confident
    try it
    systems thinking · workflow automation in production

    content ops dashboard.

    What happens when you apply instructional systems thinking to your own workflow. The daily brief, Canva carousel automation, a research pipeline scraping Reddit/TikTok/YouTube, and an analytics report, all automated with Claude Code. Powered by one markdown brand guide that every session reads.

    Thesis: If L&D teams thought about their own operations the way they think about learner operations, what would change? Turns out: a lot.

    • claude code
    • cowork
    • notion
    • canva
    • apify
    • gmail api
    • google calendar
    • netlify
    the week's social numbers, tallied automatically
    fig. 004 · a week of posts, tallied automatically
    view experiment
    programmatic media · mcp live · early stage

    programmatic video & content automation.

    Remotion for version-controlled video templates. Claude Code + MCP for automated Canva carousel generation. From a structured content queue to published assets with no manual design work.

    Thesis: Exploring whether programmatic video generation and MCP-driven design tools can replace manual asset production for L&D teams building job aids, micro-videos, onboarding, and visual guides.

    • remotion
    • claude code
    • mcp
    • canva
    • react
    seven slides, no hands
    fig. 005 · seven slides, no hands
    view experiment
    microlearning · behavioral nudges live · demo

    context-aware microlearning.

    Pick a moment. Giving difficult feedback. Onboarding someone new. Stuck on a design decision. Prepping for a stakeholder meeting. The phone comes alive with a personalized micro-intervention designed for that exact context.

    Thesis: The 2026 definition of microlearning is not shorter content. It is content that shows up at the moment of need, adapts to context, and triggers a specific decision or habit.

    • moment-of-need
    • behavioral nudges
    • context routing
    the moment picker and the phone
    fig. 006 · the moment picker and the phone
    try it
    applied llm + rag · self-directed live · solo build

    greenroom: a development copilot.

    An employee asks a real question in plain words. Greenroom answers from a curated people development library using real retrieval with citations, or an honest "not covered". It proposes a verb-first next step, then follows up to record whether the behavior actually changed. Built solo with Claude Code across six surfaces.

    Thesis: Most AI tools stop at delivering content. Greenroom is designed around the part they skip, behavior change, and proves it with a real eval harness: 22 of 22 cases pass, 100% refusal accuracy, and an independent judge model scoring groundedness at a mean of 92/100.

    • claude code
    • rag
    • voyage embeddings
    • agentic routing
    • eval harness
    greenroom live, cited and scored
    fig. 007 · greenroom live, cited and scored
    view experiment
    bauhaus systems · homepage field test retired · preserved

    the poster: a homepage, field-tested.

    Seven interlocking Bauhaus planes, one per client engagement. Hover a plane and its textile pattern floods in; select it and the case study opens as a horizontal exhibit. Built entirely from clip-path polygons and CSS patterns, no libraries, and it recuts its own composition between landscape and portrait.

    Thesis: a consultancy homepage could be pure geometry. Field testing said no. Visitors evaluating a consultant need the service first and the art second, so the poster was measured, retired after two days in production, and filed here. Behavior change over checkbox training applies to my own website too.

    • clip-path polygons
    • css patterns
    • film-strip exhibits
    • orientation recut
    • zero libraries
    the poster, all seven planes
    fig. 008 · the poster, all seven planes
    view experiment
why labs exist
the thinking is the job.
the labs are where the thinking gets tested.
caboodle design · 2026
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The thinking behind the experiments, plus weekly observations on what's actually shifting in L&D.

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