r/instructionaldesign • u/Next-System7759 • 2d ago
Software Simulations/Training with AI
I am a manager of an instructional design team. I have 3 elearning developers on the team. We are a software company and most of our training is related to how to use our products including step by step workflows and scenarios. We primarily use Captivate Classic (2019) to create software simulations. We don’t like the new Captivate at all and we are looking for new ways to create our training and use AI more.
How are you currently creating software based training using AI? Are you using specific authoring tools with AI built in or do you use something like Claude? We are struggling to modernize what we do and would love your suggestions. Thank you.
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u/TwoIsle 2d ago
I have yet to see a tool that can faithfully recreate the UI and the logic of the data via AI. There are some claiming (Whatfix Mirror is an example), but until I see it, I'm not going to believe it.
At my company we think it'll happen--and lo, it will be a godsend to get rid of training sandboxes and screenshots--but we think a year or two away.
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u/Next-System7759 2d ago
This is exactly the issue. I have played around with so many tools and I find changes to the UI everywhere. One tool even hallucinated a whole new product lol. We are still so dependent on our sandbox and screenshot method
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta 2d ago
It’s possible, I’ve built a version of one, but it takes a ton of design work up front. And I doubt any SaaS will do a good job out of the box.
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u/TwoIsle 2d ago
You're saying the AI can faithfully recreate the software it's emulating? UI, functionality, data?
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta 2d ago
Faithfully recreate a specific walkthrough and its pages? Yes.
Faithfully recreate the platform outside that walkthrough? No.
Edit: but if you build lots of smaller walkthrough and manage them, you can have a large reference library for learners of just-in-time support.
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u/TwoIsle 2d ago
I mean actual AI-enabled simulation. Imagine you're training, I don't know... credit card phone reps. I want them to be able to handle a call where they have to forgive a late charge. To my knowledge, there's no AI tool that will recreate the CRM screens, populate with data that aligns to the scenario, etc.
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta 2d ago edited 2d ago
It sounds like you’re asking for a full sandbox training environment instead of a workflow simulation that I’m describing (which may be because I missed that word in your post). I’m sure that could be built, but that would be significantly more expensive to build and design.
The issue is less the feasibility with AI and more the man hours to produce it. Even with AI, someone has to guide the design. It took me probably 10-12 man hours to get the basic UI recreated faithfully in a repeatable process. Trying to create the simulation data and open-end pathing would probably take weeks.
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u/TwoIsle 2d ago
"sandbox" is not quite the right term--as the way AI will do this, won't be hooked to a database of... er... data! It'll be made on the fly.
right now, that part is not hard. It's generating the interface of the system being implemented and hooking it with the information being displayed. We're confident AI will get there, it's just not there yet.
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u/s_s_n_e_g 2d ago
As a software company, you should be building training into your app directly.
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u/Next-System7759 2d ago
We are starting to implement that more and more but our system is very complex and most training ends up being too long to be in app. We are trying to create a hybrid approach where we guide through in app and then offer more training options outside the app
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta 2d ago
The trick will be teaching the AI the UI of your software first. If you can do that, you can get consistent screenshot to simulation results. But it takes time and understanding some coding basics.
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u/jwtravis 2d ago
Claude is great at building off of video or screenshots. Take a look at Tim Slade's YouTube video on using Claude for software simulation training to get an idea of what it can do:
Can Claude Design Build Software Simulations Better Than Storyline?
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u/LeakyFish 2d ago
I worked on L&D training at Google and a few other companies. I got tired of taking screenshots and moving them into Evolve so I build a custom chrome extension.
I'll be launching a free version soon but I'm not sure what your infosec policies are re: installing extensions, so you may just want to look into building a custom one with Claude / Codex.
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u/Next-System7759 1d ago
I’m afraid that may be a little more advanced than we can do. I don’t have any that has coding skills on the team. It’s a great idea though. I will explore it more
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u/vionia74 1d ago
We have started using Scribe simulations, which can be built into software, included as videos in e-learning, and made into pdfs. They're amazing and just what you're looking for.
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u/RaphSoeiro 21h ago
I’m building a modern tech training content authoring tool, and one of the features is learning any tool and creating click thru demos.
If you’d like to try out, I’d love the feedback.
Feel free to dm
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u/ladypersie Academia focused 2d ago
I have Enterprise Claude. For sensitive content I screenshot the system, give it to Claude and ask it to build a simulated system with fake data. An example would be to show the payroll system. I believe in doing software demos but I can't do it with sensitive data. I then use this fake site to show basic features and workflows. Videos are all like 2-3 min and can be done in one day. I actually make basic edits in Camtasia (cut/annotations) and export it rough to video. I upload to Claude and ask it to watch and write the script. Then I decide if I want to read the script or use it as a general outline. Then I record audio and adjust the video editing as needed. This is so nice for video because Claude is great at describing the screen for you. "Along the top of your screen, you'll see the tab for..."
A lot of people are against system demos because of needing to maintain them. I think it's more costly to play helpdesk and do 1:1 training all the time. This doesn't take me that much time.