In a world racing to automate everything, sometimes the most effective design decision is choosing not to. This Mastery session walks you through a complete instructional design case study: How we built a conversation skills program for a nonprofit serving people with disabilities, from discovery interviews through scenario-based practice, and why our client, Hope Community Resources, Inc., intentionally chose low-tech, peer-to-peer practice over AI-powered simulations. Not because AI can’t work. Because for this audience, in this context, human practice was the stronger design choice.

That doesn’t mean AI wasn’t part of the process. We used AI extensively behind the scenes: synthesizing hours of discovery interview data into patterns, rapidly prototyping realistic practice scenarios, and stress-testing our framework against edge cases, all to build better training faster. The lesson for L&D designers: AI is a powerful design tool even when it’s not a delivery tool.

You won’t just hear this case study; you’ll work through the design process yourself. First, you’ll see how real discovery interview data was transformed into targeted practice scenarios. Then, using a provided design worksheet, you’ll build your own practice scenario grounded in your organization’s real challenges: identifying the conversation your people struggle with most, defining the characters involved, mapping the emotional dynamics, and designing what success looks like. This is the methodology behind the BRAVE Conversations framework (Be Grounded, Restore Safety, Ask with Curiosity, Value Both/And, Engage Toward Action), a structured approach that integrates grounding practices with evidence-based communication techniques. Whether you design leadership development, interpersonal skills training, or any program targeting behavior change, you’ll leave with a repeatable design process and a scenario you can put to work.

Learning Objectives / Takeaways

1. In this session, you will learn how to use discovery interviews to uncover the real skill gaps behind “we need communication training” requests, and how AI can accelerate your analysis of qualitative data.
2. In this session, you will learn how to design practice scenarios grounded in real organizational data that challenge learners with realistic emotional dynamics, using techniques from the BRAVE Conversations design process.
3. In this session, you will learn a decision framework for choosing between high-tech and low-tech practice modalities, based on learner context, organizational culture, and the specific skills being developed.
4. In this session, you will learn how the BRAVE Conversations framework was designed from discovery interviews through scenario development, as a replicable model you can adapt for your own conversation skills or behavior change training.