Crisis Cake Control

This project was created as an exploratory learning design prototype while trialling Chameleon Creator. I wanted to design a short, practical training experience for the amateur home baker or trainee bakers to help them troubleshoot common issues that arise when baking a sponge cake.

The idea was to create something that could be used as just-in-time support, rather than a linear course to complete start to finish. The module focuses on identifying what has gone wrong, understanding why it happened, and deciding what to do next - including how to salvage a cake that hasn’t gone to plan.

Brief

  • Amateur or home bakers

  • Beginner or trainee bakers

  • Learners with limited baking experience

Target Learner

  • Learning Designer

My Role

  • Chameleon Creator

  • Miro

  • Powtoon

  • We Are Learning

  • Canva

Tools Used

  • The humble sponge cake. A simple, delicious and versatile crowd pleaser, but in reality there are a lot of moving parts. Even when a recipe is followed exactly, it is still very easy to end up with a cake that is dry, cracked, sunken in the middle, or unexpectedly dense.

    As a self proclaimed home baker, I know how frustrating this can be. Baking is essentially science, and small changes in oven temperature, pan size, mixing, or ingredients can have a big impact on the final result. When something goes wrong, it’s often Google to the rescue, but that usually leads to information overload rather than clarity.

    This highlighted the need for a clear and focused troubleshooting resource that supports decision making in the moment, without adding to the noise.

  • The solution was a scenario based microlearning module focused on four common sponge cake problems:

    Sunken sponge
    Dense or brick sponge
    Dry or crumbly sponge
    Cracked top

    The module opens with a short Powtoon video to set expectations, followed by a non linear Crisis Control landing page with clickable hotspots.

    Each scenario branches from this main page into a problem specific home landing page that sets the scene, provides key information, and includes a practical top tip or reflection activity.

    One hotspot opens an animated story scenario created using We Are Learning, placing the learner in a relatable situation of baking a birthday cake that sinks in the middle.

    Each scenario covers likely causes, how to avoid the issue in future, and practical ways to salvage or disguise the cake. The overall tone is supportive and non judgemental, helping learners decide what to do next with confidence.

Design and Development

  • Storyboard and Structure

I mapped the full learning experience in Miro before building, which helped clarify the structure, learner pathways, and interaction types.

Each scenario follows a consistent pattern:

  • scenario landing page

  • problem framing

  • interactive troubleshooting (flip cards, accordions, or sorting activities)

  • practical tips or repurposing ideas

  • short reflection activity

Different interaction types were chosen deliberately to suit the learning intent. For example, sorting and reorder activities were used to prompt learners to prioritise actions they would realistically take, rather than testing recall.

  • Visual Direction

Baking felt like an obvious place to lean into my own background. I’m British, baking is very much a British thing, and that influence shaped both the tone and visual direction of this project. I created a fictional brand, Berry Bakes, to give the module a clear identity and something that felt familiar rather than instructional.

The colour scheme draws on a classic Victoria sponge and the Union Jack, using sponge and sandy yellows alongside blue and red accents. This helped keep the design warm and approachable, while still allowing key information to stand out.

Finding suitable imagery was harder than expected, especially for specific cake problems like sunken centres, cracked tops, or crumbly sponges. I relied heavily on AI to generate more consistent visuals, knowing they wouldn’t be perfect but could be adapted to fit the brief. Canva was then used to refine these images, along with icons and graphics, before bringing everything together in Chameleon Creator.

Crisis Control: Module Walkthrough

Reflection

This project was my first proper chance to explore Chameleon Creator, and I genuinely enjoyed working with it. I found it intuitive and easy to pick up, which meant I could focus on the learning experience rather than the tool itself.

Although I no longer have access to the live build, the screen recordings still capture the intent of the design, which reinforced for me how important it is to document work early when using trial based tools. Overall, this project reflects how I like to design learning that feels practical, supportive, and grounded in real problems.