I help organizations figure out what their people need to learn, whether technology is part of the answer, and how to make it real.

Twenty-five years building for the web, recently turned toward learning design. I work at the junction between the two.

About

For most of twenty-five years, I built software for the web—for startups, agencies, a Crown-corporation insurer, and products of my own. Learning kept turning up in the work along the way: an early e-learning module at SaskTel, an HR onboarding intranet at Saskatchewan Government Insurance, a distributed-learning CD-ROM for Scholastic, and years of mentoring and onboarding developers.

Teaching web development at a higher education institution was the turn that made it deliberate. It led to an MA in Learning and Technology from Royal Roads, and a move toward learning design as the intentional work rather than something I occasionally happened to work on.

What interests me most is the diagnostic side—working out what a team actually needs to meet their learning objectives, whether technology belongs in the answer, and what the answer should be. The years of building mean I can usually help make it real, not just recommend it.

Approach

1. Diagnose

Start with the need

Find what people actually need to do, and where they're getting stuck. Plenty of training problems turn out to be something else. The first job is spotting the difference.

2. Decide

Is technology the answer?

Work out whether technology belongs in the solution, and which technology. Sometimes it’s a course. Sometimes it's a job aid, a process change, or a tool that doesn't exist yet.

3. Build

Make it real

Design the solution and, when it helps, build it—learning pathways, e-learning, or custom software. Coming from development, I don’t have to hand the build to someone else.

Selected work

Featured project

CueParrot

Founder & builder · 2025–present

CueParrot started from a problem I had as an actor: needing to run lines with a scene partner on no notice. I figured that a tool could solve it, and built one—a script-rehearsal platform, which I run solo.

The learning design is built into the product. First-letter mode integrates a line-learning technique actors already use; a pomodoro timer supports focused, spaced practice; and I am continuing to develop features drawn from how actors actually work. Alongside the platform, I’m building out learning content—including The Biz, an e-learning series on the acting business.

Teaching in higher ed

Instructor, Interactive Design · 2022–2024

Taught web and interactive design across multiple cohorts—designing project-based curriculum, running the room, and managing delivery and assessment through D2L Brightspace. The teaching is what pointed me toward learning design in the first place.

Building a UX practice

UX Lead, Field Safe Solutions · 2020–2022

Built a UX capability where there wasn't one—as much internal coaching and standards-advocating as design work. Establishing what a capability is for, before producing its artifacts, is the part of the work I keep coming back to.

Safeguarding Academic Integrity

MA capstone · Royal Roads CTET · 2026

Adapting to Motivation and Assessment Challenges Presented by AI. My capstone, sponsored by Royal Roads’ Centre for Teaching & Educational Technologies. I interviewed their people and developed research-backed recommendations specifically for their practice.

Contact

Location: Calgary, AB · Canada
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stephenpeasley