Unfold the case.
A weekly story email invites the student back. The message includes the chapters unlocked by their current profile, with a call to action for the next missing clue.
SLATE / GAMIFIED PROGRESSIVE PROFILING
CASE.
Contextual Adventure and Storytelling Engine
Every answer.
Another clue.
A mystery that unfolds around the student. Profile questions become clues, responses shape the dialogue, and the ending puts the recipient inside the story.
Designed and built by David Dysart.
THE PROJECT / THE INSTITUTION
The Castle Point Mystery.
A detective. A quantum compass.
A recipient with the answers.
The duck detective has found a mysterious device at Castle Point. To learn who built it, the detective needs to know more about the student receiving the email.
The investigation follows their academic interests, college priorities, and future plans. Each answer helps complete the profile and makes the story more personal.
The final reveal: the student’s future self built the compass while studying at the institution. It has traveled back in time to find its maker.
FIVE CLUES / ONE CONTINUING RECORD
Get to know the student.
Let the story respond.
- 01
Student type
First-year or transfer?
- 02
Academic interests
What will you study?
- 03
College priorities
What drives your choice?
- 04
Future plans
What comes after graduation?
- 05
School
Where are you studying now, or where did you last attend?
Existing Slate data counts. A recipient can unlock several chapters at once when some of these answers are already known.
A WEEKLY INVITATION / AN ADAPTIVE STORY
The next question
belongs in the plot.
Remember the answers.
Form conditions and formula exports tailor the duck detective’s dialogue to student type, academic area, and college priorities. The detective responds to what the student has shared.
Deliver the ending.
A separate completion email follows a registered form response and all five clues being present. It reveals the compass’s maker and carries the student’s name into the final scene.
THE REVEAL / A PLACE IN THE FUTURE
The missing name
was yours.
The mystery ends by inviting the student to imagine a future at the institution—as the person who created something remarkable.
ILLUSTRATIVE COMPLETION EMAIL EXCERPT
The compass came looking for its maker.
In the story, that maker is you: a future student at the institution whose creation found its way back through time.
| Alex Morgan |
The closing email connects the fictional invention to a real senior-design story from the institution, giving the student somewhere to explore next.
THE THINKING BEHIND THE EXPERIENCE
Curiosity now.
A future to picture.
The design uses curiosity to invite the next response, recognizable progress to sustain participation, and personal relevance to make the answers matter.
The ending connects that participation with belonging: the recipient can picture themselves creating, contributing, and becoming part of the institution.
Stronger engagement and commitment are design goals, not measured outcomes presented here.
Built together in Slate.
- The form
- Progressive profile questions and conditional dialogue.
- The query
- Profile completeness, formula-driven dialogue, and the next relevant action.
- The emails
- Conditional story sections, a weekly invitation, and a separate personalized reveal.
PUT IT TO WORK
What story could
your students step into?
Connect the information you need with an experience worth continuing.