An independent studio for teams that need training to change behavior and move performance — not just get completed. Learning strategy, custom-built e-learning, and modern AI tooling, delivered end to end by one senior hand.
for mission-driven teams in nonprofit, healthcare, and science.
a decade-plus designing learning inside teams at
No junior team, no handoffs, no telephone game between the strategist and the builder. You work directly with the person doing the work.
I diagnose the real performance problem first — so you don't pay to build the wrong thing. Sometimes the honest answer is that training isn't the fix at all.
Designed against real business results — behavior, ramp time, error rates — not completion screens. The goal is performance, not a green checkmark.
A decade-plus in L&D at Intuit, Lucid Motors, and Trustly, a patent for e-learning software integration, and a featured guest on Tango's Change Enablers podcast.
I take on a small number of engagements at a time — so the work, and you, get senior attention the whole way through.
Before a single screen gets built: diagnosing the real performance gap, shaping the curriculum, and partnering directly with your stakeholders and SMEs.
Interactive modules, branching scenarios, and custom-coded learning experiences — not recycled templates or click-next slideware.
Custom interactive widgets, practice agents, and AI-assisted workflows that make learning more effective — and ship it faster.
Performance-review, onboarding, and manager-readiness programs — plus the organizational work that makes training stick.
A multi-course e-learning curriculum for a global dark-sky advocacy nonprofit — including custom-built interactive widgets and a branching policy simulation, built to turn supporters into effective local advocates.
A consulting engagement with Chobani — coaching their in-house training team on modern instruction for frontline operators: modality strategy, human-centered training video, and a point-of-need video library on Microsoft 365.
Not just "what content do you have?" — what people need to do differently, and why they don't yet. Sometimes the honest finding is that training isn't the fix at all.
Directly, senior to senior. Executives and experts stay close to the work, not at arm's length.
Custom, interactive, accessible. Built to engage real learners, not to pass a checklist.
Launch, then measure what actually changes — behavior and business results like error rates, ramp time, and confidence, not just completion.
Rote memorization doesn't sync up with performance. The real question is behavior — did someone actually do the job differently? And can they find what they need the moment they need it?Ryan Kruger · on The Change Enablers podcast by Tango
Completion isn't competence. A look at why slideware doesn't change behavior, and the design moves that do.
read → nonprofitHow mission-driven teams can build training that punches above its weight — without enterprise tooling or budgets.
read → measurementIf the only number you report is completion, you can't tell whether anything changed. A simpler way to measure impact.
read →
I build learning that earns the time it asks of people — and changes what they do once they close the tab.
krüg designs is the independent practice of Ryan Kruger — an instructional designer and learning architect with a decade-plus inside the L&D teams of companies like Intuit, Lucid Motors, and Trustly. I've redesigned B2B and B2C curricula to speed up proficiency and cut overhead, partnered with C-suite leaders on learning strategy, and hold a patent for software integrations built directly into e-learning.
A musician's ear for craft — I've composed and designed sound for an independent game studio — and a systems thinker's eye for how the pieces fit. Tucson-based, direct, and allergic to busywork: I'd rather solve the right problem once than ship a stack of modules nobody finishes.
If you're building training that has to change what people do — not just get completed — let's talk. I take on a small number of engagements at a time.
ryan@krugdesigns.comI read every inquiry personally and reply within a couple of business days. You can also reach me directly at ryan@krugdesigns.com.