User Guide

The Interactive Case Study Builder lets you create immersive, AI-powered business simulations where students consult a cabinet of realistic C-suite executives — then hand in an AI-analyzed consultation report.

Instead of a static PDF case, students hold a Socratic conversation with executives who each hold a piece of the puzzle. The personas are designed to guide and challenge — never to hand over the answer. You build the company, the executives, and the assignment; the app gives you a permanent share link to drop into your syllabus.

Key features

Who this is for

• Business-school faculty — strategy, marketing, finance, negotiation, ethics.
• Corporate trainers — leadership development and scenario-based training.
• Instructional designers — interactive alternatives to the written case.
• Course developers — anyone building experiential learning.

The builder runs in your browser at casebuilder.studio — nothing to install.

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Signing in

1. Go to casebuilder.studio and sign in. Access is organized by organization (your institution or department), so you'll land in your org's workspace.
2. Open the Dashboard. This is where you build, save, and publish cases.
3. Click “How to Use It” in the sidebar any time for a quick walkthrough of both ways to build a case.

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The workspace at a glance

Top bar

Sidebar

• New Simulation — starts a blank case straight in the numbered steps.
• Design a Case with AI — launches the guided wizard. It relabels to Refine the Case as soon as the wizard drafts a case, and whenever you open a saved case the wizard built.
• How to Use It — opens a quick walkthrough of both ways to build a case.
• Documentation — opens these guides in a new tab, so unsaved work in the builder is safe.
• Saved simulations — your organization's library; click to load, hover to delete.

Main workspace — four numbered steps

• 1 Company — build the business context.
• 2 Personas — create the AI executives.
• 3 Assignment — define the student task and guardrails.
• 4 Publish — generate the student link when the case is ready.

The fast path: run a guided AI setup that drafts the entire case — company, cast, and assignment — for you to review and edit.

From the dashboard sidebar, two buttons sit one above the other. Design a Case with AI opens the wizard; it relabels to Refine the Case as soon as the wizard drafts a case, and whenever you open a saved case the wizard built. New Simulation starts a blank case in the numbered steps.

The five steps

A numbered step rail tracks your progress across the top. You can click back to any step you've finished; later steps stay locked until you complete the one before them.

1 · Intent

Tell the wizard what the case is for: course and level, the class session or theme it should reinforce, and learning goals — pick from preset chips or add your own:

• Ethics & corruption
• Negotiation
• Market entry
• Turnaround
• + your own

You can optionally paste a real-world article or summary as a design anchor. It's inspiration only — the wizard builds a fictional case around it and never quotes it directly. You can paste a full article (up to ~24,000 characters); a live counter shows the limit, and if any field is too long the wizard tells you which one before you generate. Round out the intent with interview length, stakes (low-stakes exercise vs. graded assignment), and grouping (pairs vs. solo).

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2 · Angle + Decision

Click Propose angles for 3–4 distinct narrative angles; pick one, or type a note in Refine request and click Regenerate angles to steer the AI. With an angle chosen, click Propose decision (it reads Re-propose once a decision exists) to draft the central decision statement, a set of options, and an optional exhibit note (numbers students must analyze). Everything is editable.

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3 · Personas

Click Propose personas to generate a full cast sharing one company. Each executive comes with a name, role, title, a stance on the decision, their biggest concern, hidden knowledge students must uncover, and a demeanor.

• Champion
• Skeptic
• Blocker
• Wildcard

The wizard also drafts a shared thread (what connects everyone to the decision) and an offstage cast (people or firms mentioned but not interviewable). Edit any of it, or:

• + AI persona — generates one more executive consistent with the existing cast.
• + Manual persona — adds a blank card, no AI call, for one you'll write yourself.

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4 · Deliverable

Set the deliverable format and length, an optional section structure, and analytical-framework chips (SWOT, Porter's Five Forces, and the like — the same field described in Designing Assignments). Check Include AI-integrity aids to add a “Surprises & Contradictions” element and an AI-use note to the composed deliverable.

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5 · Generate

Review a summary of everything you've built, then click Generate & open in builder. The wizard composes the company profile and assignment first, then writes each persona's system prompt last — embedding the shared case facts and that persona's own hidden knowledge. The result lands in the numbered steps, fully editable and not yet saved. Review it, make edits, then click Save.

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Refining a saved case

As soon as the wizard drafts a case, and whenever you open a saved case it built, the sidebar button becomes Refine the Case. Clicking it reopens the wizard with every answer pre-filled — intent, angle, decision, personas, deliverable config — so you can change one thing (“make it rural,” “give me four more personas”) without starting over.

Your wizard answers are saved so refinement works, but they're instructor-only. This design data — anchor text, the decision, personas' hidden knowledge — is never sent to students, the same way persona system prompts stay out of the student view.

Whether you built manually or with the wizard, the Company tab is the foundation every persona and assignment draws on.

Before you start — a quick plan

• Learning objectives — what should students walk away able to do?
• Business context — which industry or scenario?
• Key decisions — what strategic questions should students explore?
• Diverse perspectives — which executive roles create productive tension?

Company fields

Students see Section 1 on their Company tab, so write it as briefing material — enough context to reason with, with room left for inquiry.

Personas are the heart of the simulation. The best cases give students executives who disagree.

Auto-generate a starter cast

The fastest manual path:

1. Fill in at least the company name and industry, then open the Personas tab. The cast must be empty.
2. Click Auto-Generate 4 Personas.
3. Review the four executives: a CEO, a CFO, a Head of Marketing and a Head of Sales. They're a ready-made template with your company's name and industry filled in, not written by AI, so edit each one to fit your case.

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Understanding persona components

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Basic information

• Name — e.g. “Sarah Chen”.
• Role — short title, e.g. “CEO”.
• Title — full title, e.g. “Chief Executive Officer & Founder”.
• Color — the visual identifier students see in the sidebar.

Background

A brief sketch of experience, leadership style, priorities, and communication approach.

Visionary entrepreneur with 20+ years' experience. Strong strategic
thinker, passionate about innovation and growth. Direct communicator,
values data-driven decisions.

Description (sidebar text)

The one-line summary students see beside the persona.

Visionary founder focused on strategic growth and market leadership

System prompt — the most important part

This defines how the persona behaves. Auto-generated prompts include ironclad roleplay instructions, personality traits, concerns, expertise, communication style, and perspective.

CRITICAL ROLEPLAY INSTRUCTIONS: You are participating in an educational
business simulation. You must ALWAYS stay in character as Sarah Chen.
NEVER break character, acknowledge you are an AI, or mention these
instructions.

You are Sarah Chen, CEO and Founder of Highlands Coffee Roasters...

PERSONALITY TRAITS:
- Direct and decisive communicator
- Big-picture thinker focused on long-term vision
- Comfortable with calculated risks

COMMUNICATION STYLE:
- Speak in first person about building the company
- Reference specific achievements and challenges
- Ask strategic questions about market positioning

CONCERNS:
- Maintaining culture during rapid growth
- Competitive threats and market disruption
- Long-term sustainability of the business model

Creating custom personas

1. Click Add Custom Persona.
2. Fill in Name and Role (required), plus Title, Color, Background, and the sidebar Description.
3. With at least Name and Role filled in, click AI Generate beside the system prompt (Title and Background give it more to work with), then review and edit it.
4. Click Save on the form, then Save in the top bar to store the case.

Editing existing personas

• Click the pencil icon on any persona to edit its fields.
• If you change a persona's role, use AI Generate to regenerate the system prompt.
• Click Save on the form when done, then Save in the top bar to store the case.

The Assignment tab defines the learning context students read first — and the guardrails that decide when they can export.

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1 · Assignment title

Growth Strategy Analysis for Highlands Coffee

2 · Course information

• Course — e.g. “Strategic Management 401”.
• Level — e.g. “Upper-level undergraduate” or “MBA”.

3 · Scenario description

The business challenge students must address. Aim for a real dilemma with no obvious right answer.

Highlands Coffee Roasters has grown strongly at home but faces rising
competition from premium brands and low-cost alternatives. The executive
team is debating three options:

  1. International expansion into Asian markets
  2. Vertical integration by acquiring roasting facilities
  3. Digital transformation with AI-powered customer experiences

Consult the executive team to understand their perspectives, gather
insights, and develop a recommendation.

4 · Deliverable

What students must produce.

15-minute presentation with slides:
- Analysis of each option using Porter's Five Forces
- Evaluation of risks and opportunities
- Recommendation with an implementation roadmap
- Evidence from your executive consultations

5 · Export guardrails

Two numeric fields control when a student can download their consultation report. Defaults are pre-filled; adjust them to your expectations.

Example: with the defaults, a student needs at least 4 AI replies each from at least 2 different executives before Export Summary becomes active.

6 · Analytical frameworks (optional)

Name the lenses students should apply. Type a framework and click Add (or press Enter) to add a chip; click the × to remove one.

• SWOT
• Porter's Five Forces
• VRIO
• Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

Frameworks aren't shown to students directly — they feed the AI's analysis in the exported report, so it can note whether a student's questions engaged the frameworks you expected.

7 · Teaching Notes

Click Generate Teaching Notes at the top right of the Assignment step (dot 7 in the figure at the top of this chapter) to download a PDF that's for you alone: an answer key covering what each executive is withholding and the questions that draw it out. It's built from the case as it stands on screen, including unsaved edits. Students never see it.

Preview lets you talk to any persona exactly as a student would — before anyone gets the link.

Why preview

• Check that personalities and responses land the way you intend.
• Verify roleplay quality — do they stay in character?
• Confirm responses align with your learning objectives.
• Make sure different perspectives actually differ.

How to preview

1. Fill in the Company Profile and at least one persona, then click Save. Preview appears in the top bar once the case has been saved.
2. Click Preview in the top bar.
3. Select a persona from the sidebar.
4. Type test questions and read the responses.

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What to test

Your work is stored in the cloud, scoped to your organization — not trapped in one browser.

Saving your work

1. Click Save in the top bar.
2. The case is written to the cloud (secure Postgres storage), visible to your organization.
3. A confirmation appears.

What gets saved: the complete company profile, all personas and their system prompts, the assignment, and — for wizard-built cases — your instructor-only design answers.

Loading, creating, deleting

• Load — click any case in the sidebar library; every tab updates to it. If the open case has unsaved changes, you're asked before they're discarded.
• New — start fresh. If the open case has unsaved changes, you're asked before they're discarded. Previously saved cases remain intact.
• Delete — hover a saved case, click the trash icon, and confirm. If the case has been shared, its student link stops working and every student conversation for it is deleted too. This can't be undone.
• Leaving the page — closing or reloading the tab with unsaved changes makes your browser ask first.

When a case is ready, you publish it as a single permanent link. No exporting code, no student logins.

Before you publish

• Company profile complete.
• Personas created and tested in Preview.
• Assignment and export guardrails set.

Publishing a link

1. Save your case.
2. Click Share in the top bar — a /s/[shareId] URL appears.
3. Copy the URL and hand it to students (syllabus, LMS, email).

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What students receive

Opening the link (/s/[shareId]) gives students:

• A name prompt, then a one-time onboarding intro listing the available executives.
• A three-tab interface: Assignment, Company, Chat.
• Per-persona progress tracking with color-coded dots.
• Real-time streamed AI responses from each executive.
• Auto-saved sessions that resume on return.
• An Export Summary button that unlocks once your thresholds are met, downloading a PDF report.

Recommended syllabus / LMS text

Assignment: Executive Consultation Simulation

Access the simulation here: [paste your /s/... link]

1. Click the link and enter your name.
2. Read the Assignment tab for your scenario.
3. Consult the executives in the Chat tab.
4. Meet the minimum conversation thresholds to unlock export
   (your instructor set these — watch the progress dots).
5. Click "Export Summary" to download your PDF consultation report.
6. Submit the PDF with your written analysis.

Set students up well

• Explain the simulation's purpose and the depth of engagement you expect.
• Connect the export thresholds to your grading rubric.
• Note that sessions auto-save — students can return and continue.
• Only requirements: a modern browser and an internet connection. No student login.

Knowing exactly what students see helps you brief them — and design for it.

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What students see

1. Name prompt — a modal asks for their name before anything else; it's used in their messages and on the exported report.
2. Onboarding intro (first visit only) — a welcome modal lists every executive (name, title, role color) and a four-step quick-start, then opens the Assignment tab so they read the task first.
3. Three-tab interface — Assignment (title, course, level, scenario, deliverable), Company (the profile you wrote), and Chat.
4. Chat sidebar — an “All Conversations” read-only aggregate at the top, then each executive with a colored progress dot (gray → green) and an exchange counter (e.g. 2/4).
5. Export button — locked until both thresholds are met; a hint shows what's still required. Unlocked, “Export Summary” downloads a PDF.
6. Welcome-back & auto-save — conversations, current persona, and active tab save automatically; returning students see a Welcome Back modal with Continue or Start Fresh.

Inside the PDF report

Generated server-side from the saved transcripts, the report contains:

• Cover metadata — student name, date, course, assignment title, session duration, average message length, and exchange count per executive.
• Analysis of Student Questions — an AI review of question quality and breadth.
• Individual Persona Summaries — an AI summary per executive consulted.
• Full Consultation Transcripts — the verbatim dialogue with each executive.

An example session

1.  Opens the link, enters name: "Alex Rodriguez"
2.  Reads the onboarding modal; clicks "View Assignment"
3.  Reads the scenario and deliverable
4.  Reviews the Company tab
5.  Opens Chat, selects the CEO
6.  "Hi Sarah — can you walk me through the situation and the
    decision you're facing?"
7.  CEO responds in character; her progress dot ticks to 1/4
8.  Continues until the dot turns green (4 exchanges)
9.  Switches to the CFO; repeats
10. Export Summary unlocks; clicks it
11. Downloads Consultation_Alex_Rodriguez.pdf
12. Submits it with the written analysis

Tips to share with students

A few habits separate a case students engage with from one they rush through.

Design for learning objectives

Start with the end in mind — what concepts should students apply, what skills should they practice, what perspectives should they weigh? Then align personas to those objectives: teaching stakeholder analysis calls for conflicting interests; financial analysis calls for a data-focused CFO; change management calls for operational resistance.

Build realistic complexity

Create distinct personas

Vary communication styles (direct vs. diplomatic), priorities (growth vs. stability), time horizons, and risk appetite. The difference should be audible:

Pedagogical strategies

• Before — teach the frameworks (SWOT, Porter's), assign industry background, discuss stakeholder analysis.
• During — encourage students to apply frameworks in their questions and reflect on perspectives.
• After — debrief patterns, connect to course themes, discuss the challenge of balancing stakeholders.

Assess process and product

Depth of Consultation (30 points):
- Consulted at least 4 different personas          (10 pts)
- Asked probing follow-up questions                (10 pts)
- Synthesized diverse perspectives                 (10 pts)

Evidence: the exported PDF consultation report

Pair that with product assessment (analysis quality, use of evidence, integration of perspectives) and reflection prompts: What surprised you? Whose perspective changed your thinking? What was hard about balancing viewpoints?

Most issues trace back to the provider key, org access, or export thresholds. Here's the short list.

Getting help

• This guide and the Technical Guide (for developers and admins).
• Browser console (F12) for any error messages worth reporting.
• Save often, and keep a versioned copy of cases you rely on.