Learning that starts with people, not content.
I design so people walk away feeling capable, never overwhelmed.
Every choice, from a scenario's pacing to a rubric's wording, helps someone think, practice, and feel respected while they learn.
Hi, I'm Sarah.
I came to instructional design after years of watching how people actually make sense of new things: in classrooms, in multilingual programs, in academic leadership. That taught me that learning is social before it's technical, and it shapes every project I take on.
The work, and the why
A finished course only tells half the story. Each project below includes the reasoning behind it, because the design decisions are where the learning actually gets shaped.
Interacciones seguras con la policía y ICE
A bilingual Storyline course that helps newcomers rehearse safe, confident interactions with police and immigration officials before they happen.
View project details
Challenges: Newcomers to the United States are often unsure of their rights, or the exact phrases to use, in an encounter with police or immigration officials. Learning this for the first time in a high-stakes moment, in a second language, leaves little room to think clearly.
Solutions: A bilingual Storyline microlearning course lets learners rehearse the exact phrases and small realistic decisions that shape a safe interaction, in their strongest language, before they ever need them. A companion job aid ("3 Pasos, Conoce Tus Derechos") gives them something concrete to keep and reference afterward.
Results: Learners walk away having already rehearsed the moment, not just read about it, with a takeaway job aid reinforcing the same three steps.
Re-design of ESL Assessments
A ground-up rubric redesign that turns ESL speaking scores into a map of what to work on, not a verdict.
View project details
Challenges: The original speaking assessment asked tutors to hold the scoring criteria in their heads, so results varied depending on who was scoring, and a learner's score didn't tell them clearly what to do next.
Solutions: A ground-up rubric redesign aligned criteria to real proficiency levels (according to both CEFR and institutional standards) and rewrote the scoring language so both instructors and learners can use it, turning a score into a map of what to work on rather than a verdict.
Results: Instructors now have a rubric that describes what each proficiency level looks like in practice, making scoring more consistent and more useful to the learner.
What shapes my design
Tools matter less than the thinking behind them. These are the practices I bring to every project, grouped by the question they answer.
Start with people
I understand what a learner already knows, what worries them, and what they'll need to do next, through needs analysis, curriculum mapping, and adult learning theory, before I decide what to design.
Make it clear
I turn that understanding into eLearning, job aids, and bilingual content, in Articulate Storyline and beyond, designed so every screen and every language carries the same meaning.
Design the system
Learning doesn't stand alone, so I work closely with subject matter experts and design assessments and rubrics that are accessible from the start, so every part of a project points the same direction.
Start a conversation
If you're building learning for people who deserve to feel capable, and you care about the why as much as the what, I'd love to hear from you.
Download PDF
Download PDF
Download PDF