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.

Four experiments in the spotlight, five more on the shelf below. Each has a live URL, a thesis, and a next step. Click through to the working version.

    action mapping · learning experience design field exercise · sep 2026

    first edit.

    A take-home for a Lead Learning Experience Designer role at the Wikimedia Foundation. The question: how might learning help more people go from interested to a first edit, and come back for a second? Six pages, one prototype, about two hours of thinking and a few more of building.

    Thesis: Most leaks are not knowledge problems. A reverted edit with no explanation is: a consequence with no information attached. That one, learning can fix.

    • action mapping
    • experiment design
    • codex tokens
    • html / css / js
    • claude code
    all six pages of the take-home laid out in two rows: the problem framing and re-measured funnel with bar charts, a table of interview moments, the three directions, the experiment plan, the two prototype screens, and what changed plus sources
    fig. 009 · six pages, one prototype
    view experiment
    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
    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
also on the bench · five more

the shelf.

Smaller experiments that are still live, each one built to answer a single question.

  1. emotion-aware feedback system. feedback design · adaptive ux · live · prototype Same scenario, same learner response, three different coaching outputs depending on emotional state.
  2. content ops dashboard. systems thinking · workflow automation · in production What happens when you apply instructional systems thinking to your own workflow.
  3. programmatic video & content automation. programmatic media · mcp · live · early stage Remotion for version-controlled video templates. Claude Code + MCP for automated Canva carousel generation.
  4. context-aware microlearning. microlearning · behavioral nudges · live · demo Pick a moment, get the one nudge that fits it. Microlearning that knows where you are in the week.
  5. the poster: a homepage, field-tested. bauhaus systems · homepage field test · retired · preserved Seven interlocking Bauhaus planes, one per client engagement.
why labs exist
the thinking is the job.
the labs are where the thinking gets tested.
caboodle design · 2026
next field note

read the notebook.

The thinking behind the experiments, plus weekly observations on what's actually shifting in L&D.

field notes