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case study ENG-PP001 self-initiated research · 2026
the people's professors

tiktok is a
learning system.
I built the proof.

TikTok creators teach millions without credentials, budgets, or learning theory. I studied what they're doing, distilled it to five strategies, and built a full course to prove the thesis: a gamified sticker system, an AI chatbot, and an interactive game embedded in the experience.

01
the challenge

TikTok creators are
outperforming L&D.
Why?

Creators with no training background, no budget, and no LMS are changing behavior at scale. Meanwhile, corporate training sits at 20% completion and changes nothing. I wanted to know what they know that we've forgotten.

This was a self-initiated capstone: design a course that teaches the five strategies TikTok creators use — using those same strategies to teach them.

02
the approach

The medium
is the message.

Action Mapping defined the five critical behaviors: Hook, Chunking, Visual Attention, Engagement, and Sequencing. Then I built the course to demonstrate each strategy as it taught it. A zine aesthetic — handmade, photocopied, democratized — because zines did for publishing what creators are doing for education.

The design system (style guide, component library, build log) is fully documented and public.

03
the solution

A course that proves
its own thesis.

The Algorithm — AI chatbot character

Built in Articulate Rise with custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript layered in. Delivered via Mighty. Five strategy modules, each one using the strategy it's teaching. An AI chatbot ("The Algorithm") lives in the experience — ask it questions, go deeper, explore the research. Earn a collectible sticker for each strategy you master.

The "Spot the Strategy" interactive game lets learners test what they've learned: watch real video scenarios and identify which of the five strategies the creator used.

TikTok content creator — the people's professors
the algorithm rewards good teaching. so does the brain.
from the design files

the five strategies creators use.

Distilled from studying hundreds of high-performing TikTok creators. Each strategy became a module. Each module earned a sticker.

  1. Hook strategy sticker

    Hook

    Stop the scroll in the first two seconds. Pattern interrupt, open loop, or direct challenge.

  2. Chunking strategy sticker

    Chunking

    One idea per video. No padding, no preamble. Constraint forces clarity.

  3. Visual Attention strategy sticker

    Visual Attention

    Motion, contrast, and on-screen text keep the eye moving. Captions aren't accessibility — they're pedagogy.

  4. Engagement strategy sticker

    Engagement

    Ask, poll, challenge. The algorithm rewards it. So does the brain. Comments are formative assessment.

  5. Sequencing strategy sticker

    Sequencing

    Teach in the right order. Build on what they already know. Even a 45-second video has a learning arc.

Sticker collection system — earn one strategy sticker per module completed

earn one sticker per strategy mastered · collect all five

from the course · hook module

see it in the wild.

The hook module puts learners in the algorithm's seat — the same split-second choice a viewer makes in the first two seconds of any video.

caboodle design · the people's professors · thesis
creators aren't dumbing it down.
they're stripping out what never
needed to be there.
emily green · self-initiated research · 2026
the results

a thesis built,
proven, and presented.

creator strategies identified
5/
conference presentations
2+
design system
open-source
ai chatbot
live/
try it · spot the strategy

play the game.

Watch real video scenarios. Identify which of the five creator strategies is in use. Six rounds.

interactive · spot the strategy

think you can spot
a creator strategy
in the wild?

Watch real video scenarios. Identify which of the five strategies the creator used. Six rounds. No wrong answers that don't teach you something.

launch the course view design system
this work, onstage

the keynotes.

Two talks distill the behavioral findings from this research — a TCC 2026 keynote on nano learning and a Mighty Meetup with Maestro on the capstone build itself.

TCC 2026 · Worldwide Online Conference Human by Design: Nano learning lessons from The People's Professors Watch on Vimeo ↗
Maestro · Mighty Meetup A conversation on the capstone build, the framework, and what creators are really doing Watch on YouTube ↗
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