Daria Sur · Instructional Design & Learning Experience Design.
Competence doesn't come before opportunity. It comes from it.
Scenario-based eLearning, blended programs, and AI coaching for multilingual, multi-site workforces.
Everyone needs room to get it wrong first.
I rebuilt my career in a new country and a second language, moving through design, teaching, and learning design. Confidence came from practice, not from waiting until I was ready.
Now I design that for others: scenario-based eLearning, blended programs, and AI coaching for 1000 people across 50 sites, 17 countries, in 8 languages.
EdD in progress, Northeastern · M.A. Teaching, Mills College
Daria Sur | Learning Experience Designer
Some mistakes are too expensive to make for real. Firing someone badly. Mishandling a leave request. Missing a safety signal on the floor. That's exactly why those moments need to be practiced.
Cultural Compass
An AI coach for navigating U.S. workplace communication.
Built for international specialists relocating to the U.S. for a global automotive manufacturer. It maps home-culture communication styles to U.S. norms, then provides scripts to use and practice challenges to rehearse.
Client: Executives and senior technical leaders relocating to the U.S. for a multinational manufacturer
25% faster time-to-competency · 35 of 50 pilot users applied a script in real meetings · Scaled from client pilot to public tool
Learning Architecture for Workforce Onboarding
Tools: Claude Design, Canva, Synthesia, Veo 3.1.
An example of effective onboarding eLearning for new employees: a scalable training ecosystem including SCORM-compliant modules, interactive branching scenarios, facilitator-led resources, and AI-generated communication videos. A shared design system in Claude Design gives every module the same structure, so complex subject-matter-expert input becomes clear, learner-ready content.
Client: An early education network | 50 sites, ~800 staff
What makes onboarding eLearning effective: new hires practice real situations through scenarios instead of just reading policies, content stays consistent across every site, and short modules fit into the first weeks of work.
Result: 40% faster module design · SME review cycles cut from 3 rounds to 1 · 28% fewer support requests
Tools: Articulate 360, Anthropic Claude, Veo 3.1
Workplace Violence Prevention eLearning
Tools: Articulate 360 · Veo 3.1 · Claude · Miro
In a real incident, there's no time to learn. This scenario-based module lets staff practice recognizing warning signs and responding safely before it matters. Developed with subject-matter experts, it balances empathy with compliance through realistic workplace situations and branching decisions with immediate feedback.
Cient: An early education network | 50 sites, ~800 staff
Result: 800 employees · 10 sites · 2× completion rate; 40% completion time
Modalities: Scenario-based eLearning · Branching decisions · AI-generated video
Managerial Training: Supporting Employees on Leave
Tools: Anthropic Claude, Adobe Express, Synthesia, Articulate 360, Canva & PPT Slides
A blended training for mid-level managers on supporting employees through medical leave, where one wrong step can harm trust or create legal risk. Built on the Heart–Mind–Hand framework, the program develops empathy (Heart), compliance knowledge (Mind), and concrete behavioral steps for communication and documentation (Hand). Managers practice through scenario-based role-play, guided discussion, and an AI coaching tool before facing the real conversation.
Modalities: VILT · Video scenarios · Interactive activities · AI coaching
Tools: Canva, Anthropic Claude, Adobe Acrobat
Interactive PDF: AI Literacy Workbook for Doctoral Nursing Students
No login. No dashboard. No new platform to learn.
Just an interactive workbook that helps doctoral nursing students build clinical reasoning, prompt-writing, and responsible AI-use skills through guided practice and reflection. Sometimes the simplest format is the one people actually use.
Client: A multi-campus higher-ed institution, ~400 staff and faculty
Result: Launched in 5 days at zero licensing cost, and delivered in live training for doctoral nursing students.
Modalities: Interactive PDF · Live training · Guided practice · Reflection prompts
Leadership Training: Performance Conversations at Scale
Case Study Based on Real-World Projects; Tools: Claude, Adobe Express, Synthesia.
A blended leadership program preparing Center Directors at a multi-site nonprofit to lead consistent, effective performance conversations across distributed locations. The program combined eLearning, facilitated workshops, job aids, and AI-supported coaching, so directors could practice difficult conversations before holding them with staff.
Reach: 50 locations · 800+ employees
Modalities: eLearning · ILT/VILT · Job aids · AI coaching
Designing Accessible eLearning: A Design Thinking Workshop
Tools: Articulate 360, Anthropic Claude, Veo 3.1, Flow
A hands-on workshop where participants used design thinking to build WCAG 2.1-compliant learning resources, applying accessibility principles directly to their own content.
Strategies for engaging, accessible learning: start with the learner through empathy mapping, structure content with semantic headings, write meaningful alt text, check color contrast, and caption all multimedia. Accessibility built in from the start costs less and reaches more learners than fixes added at the end.
Modalities: ILT · eLearning · Job aids · Handouts
Skill Up: A Community of Practice for Workplace Reskilling
Tools: ChatGPT, Synthesia, Canva, and Adobe Express.
A product enablement series for a university IT department, helping staff adopt new tools that one-time training hadn't made stick. Each 30-minute flipped session pairs a short microlearning video with hands-on practice and real-time feedback, and the series grew into an ongoing community of practice.
Client: Global multi-campus higher-ed institution, ~1000 staff and faculty
Result: 30% increase in tool adoption.
Modalities: Microlearning · ILT/VILT · Job aids · Hypercare
Tech-Enablement Onboarding eLearning
Tools: Miro, Articulate 360 (Rise, Storyline), Canvas, Workday (LMS)
Client: Global multi-campus higher-ed institution, ~1000 staff and faculty
Onboarding eLearning that helps new staff and faculty use workplace technology confidently from day one and connect with the organization's culture. First built for a California satellite campus, it was scaled into a global onboarding program in partnership with IT and HR.
Result: 30% lift in learner engagement.
AI in Action for Small Businesses
A hands-on learning series helping Oakland entrepreneurs turn AI from a buzzword into daily workflows. Co-designed with Northeastern University students and community leaders, the sessions clarified when to use an AI assistant versus an agent, then mapped each owner's business goals into steps they could apply right away, captured live in Miro.
Results: Sessions were delivered to over 100 Oakland entrepreneurs, with 74% reporting they used their workflow within a week.
Modalities: Live workshops · Collaborative Miro workshops · Workflow templates
