Learning Experience Designer

Nicole
DeGrace

Turning complex business goals into immersive learning that drives real-world performance.

People don't learn best by being told—they learn by doing, exploring, and pretending they didn't see the instructions.
Hello, I'm Nicole

A little about who I am

I've always been curious about how people think, connect, and learn from each other — looong before I knew "Learning Experience Design" was a career. So, I decided to study Sociology at the University of Michigan, where I became fascinated by what actually drives behavior change (and unfortunately it's not just good intentions).

My approach is simple: people don't learn best by being told. They learn by doing, exploring, and many times by laughing. I design learning that feels less like "training" and more like something people can step into, experiment with, giggle a little, and actually apply in their work.

I believe the best learning design is human at its core — thoughtful, engaging, a little unexpected, and always tied to real outcomes. A lot of how I think is shaped outside of work through travel, design, food, and movement, because creativity doesn't stay in one lane, and neither should learning.

Beyond the work

A life fully lived

You'll usually find me planning my next trip, rearranging my apartment like it's a living mood board, in a yoga class trying to convince my brain to be still, or experimenting in the kitchen with combinations that probably shouldn't work… but somehow do. Based in Phoenix — but rarely in one place for long.

Travel
Fashion
Yoga
My journey

Where I've been

Current Chapter

Learning Experience Designer

Zillow

Designing AI-enhanced, multimodal learning experiences that turn business shifts and product launches into actionable skills for sales and customer-facing teams — driving engagement, readiness, and measurable performance impact.

Growth + Scale Chapter

Senior Instructional Designer

Newfold Digital

Designed and scaled learning solutions across six SaaS brands, translating complex stakeholder needs into outcome-driven learning that strengthened alignment between business goals and learner performance.

Foundation + Craft Chapter

Senior Instructional Designer

Rocket Mortgage

Improved sales readiness and accelerated technology adoption through large-scale, business-aligned training programs. Strengthened team capability through mentoring and establishing shared standards and best practices.

The Origin Story

B.A. in Sociology

University of Michigan

Built a foundation in human behavior and group dynamics that now informs how I design learning experiences that drive real-world change. This is where the curiosity became a calling.

Selected work

Learning experiences I've designed

Filter by the type of work you're most interested in, or browse everything below.

AI-Powered Experiences

Space Mission — Destination Planet Zillow Pro

500 people. On their feet. Yelling. At a sales training. That's what happened when this AI-powered space mission launched live at SKO 2026. Pairs of reps raced to navigate their ship to Planet Zillow Pro by diagnosing customer journey stages and collecting all Five Motivated Wins in real conversations with an AI agent. A live leaderboard projected across the room turned skill practice into a spectacle — and made the learning impossible to forget.

ReplitAI / LLMGame-Based LearningLive EventSales Enablement
AI-Powered Experiences

The Five Wins Trail

Everyone who's ever played Oregon Trail knows the stakes — and that's exactly the point. This AI-powered game drops reps onto the trail to Planet Zillow Pro, where the only way to keep the wagon moving is to secure all Five Wins. The nostalgia is the hook. The competition is the fuel. And by the time reps finish, they've practiced real discovery conversations in a format so memorable it barely feels like training.

ReplitAI / LLMGame-Based LearningSales Enablement
AI-Powered Experiences

Pitch Mansion — Haunted Escape Room

A haunted mansion escape room where the only way out is a better pitch. Reps move room to room — unlocking doors by diagnosing customer signals, securing the Five Wins, and making the right call at every turn. The pressure of the escape room format mirrors the real pressure of a sales conversation, making practice feel genuinely high-stakes. Because the best skill-building doesn't feel like training at all.

ReplitAI / LLMGame-Based LearningSales Enablement
AI-Powered Experiences

Case Files — Zillow Pro Agency

A fully AI-powered investigation game built in Replit where reps step into the role of a Zillow Pro Agency sales detective — reading real client signals, diagnosing journey stages, and building cases file by file. Competition, creativity, and consequence replace passive content consumption. Learners aren't just studying the material — they're living it, making decisions that mirror their actual day-to-day, in a format they actually want to engage with.

ReplitAI / LLMGame-Based LearningSales Enablement
Onboarding & Upskilling

Move Them With Purpose — Sales Kickoff 2026

Designed and facilitated a full-day sales training session for Zillow's 500-person Sales Kickoff — one of the highest-visibility stages in the company. The curriculum guided reps through a Customer Journey framework, persona-based signal diagnosis, and a Five Wins model for building deal momentum. The capstone was an AI-powered role-play simulation (built in Replit) where reps practiced diagnosing customer stages and earning motivated wins in real time — making the learning immediately applicable on the floor.

Google SlidesCanvaReplitILTSales Enablement
Storytelling

Introducing Zillow Pro

A stakeholder handed me blocks of product copy. I turned it into a story. The course follows Lana — a real estate agent you meet at an open house — through the moments where Zillow Pro actually matters: staying top of mind, knowing when to follow up, and turning a first conversation into a long-term relationship. The narrative thread makes the features feel human and the value feel real.

Rise 360CanvaReplitNotebookLM
View course →
Storytelling

The Customer Journey Map & Five Wins — Foundations

Skipping a customer journey stage, I explained, is like skipping leg day. Technically optional. Always a mistake. This course takes two complex sales frameworks — the Customer Journey Map and the Five Wins — and makes them genuinely engaging by grounding abstract concepts in relatable analogies, dry humor, and real-world sales moments. Proof that "dry" material doesn't have to feel dry.

Rise 360CanvaSales Enablement
View course →
Storytelling

Zillow Showcase: The Fast Lane to a Better Listing Presentation

An extended road trip metaphor, committed to fully. This course walks agents through three strategic stops — Prepare, Present, and Plan — using driving and journey analogies throughout to keep the narrative propulsive and the content memorable. The result is a course that feels like it's moving, because the content is about momentum. Oh, and it also teaches agents how to win 30% more listings.

Rise 360CanvaAdobe Premiere ProChatGPT
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AI-Powered Experiences

Premium Agent Profile — Simple Steps to Stand Out

A stakeholder handed me a block of disjointed text and asked me to turn it into a course. The result: a warm, witty, action-packed eLearning that walks real estate agents through optimizing their Zillow profile — using a custom AI app I designed to generate personalized "About Me" copy and video outlines in seconds. The course balances practical skill-building with a tone that keeps people laughing (and actually finishing it) — because if someone giggles during an eLearning, they're not just clicking through.

eLearningAI IntegrationReplitCustomer EducationRise 360
Takeaway Content

SKO 2026 — Master Facilitator Guide

Every great training needs an equally great facilitator guide. This master guide equipped ASA and Manager Facilitators across 10+ breakout rooms to co-deliver the SKO session with consistency and confidence — including slide-by-slide talking points, handoff cues, Kahoot and Replit game logistics, and coaching prompts for live observations. A facilitator guide this detailed doesn't just support delivery. It reflects total command of the content and a deep commitment to the learner experience at every level.

Facilitator GuideCanvaSales EnablementILT
Takeaway Content

CJM & Five Wins — SKO Postcard

A double-sided quick-reference card designed to travel home from SKO with every rep. One side distills the full 7-stage Customer Journey Map — stage, signal, and sales objective — into a single scannable table. The flip side maps all Five Wins across the pre- and post-sale journey. Complex frameworks, made clear enough to use in the flow of a real conversation.

Job AidCanvaSales EnablementVisual Design
Takeaway Content

Sending My Agent Requests Like a Zillow Pro

A practical one-pager built around a simple insight: agents trust other agents. Rather than telling reps how to use a Zillow feature, this playbook surfaces real strategies from a top-performing real estate agent — broken down by client type, timing, and what's actually working in the field. Peer-to-peer credibility isn't just a nice touch; it's a deliberate design decision that makes the content land differently.

Job AidCanvaCustomer EducationSales Enablement
Onboarding & Upskilling

Microlearning

Upgrade Your Live Listings to Showcase

Not every learning need calls for a full course — sometimes agents just need a quick, clear answer right when they're ready to act. This microlearning delivers exactly that: a focused, just-in-time experience for agents who already have a live listing and are ready to add the Showcase upgrade. Short by design. Effective by intention.

Rise 360CanvaAdobe Premiere ProChatGPT
View course →
Onboarding & Upskilling

Managing Your Day — Leadership ILT

Stakeholders came to me with a single directive: help leaders become more efficient. No framework, no content, no scope. I translated that open-ended ask into a full Instructor-Led Training covering task prioritization, interruption management, and delegation — complete with activities, stat-backed insights, and take-home homework to drive behavior beyond the classroom.

PowerPointILTLeadership DevelopmentCurriculum Design
Takeaway Content

Aviator Academy — ILT Job Aid

Designed as a companion to a multi-day, sales-focused ILT program for new purchase bankers at Rocket Mortgage. The job aid doubles as both a reference guide and an active learning tool — strategic blank spaces prompt learners to capture key concepts in their own words, reinforcing retention during and after training. Built to work seamlessly in both in-person and virtual formats.

Job AidILTSales EnablementCanva
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Résumé

Nicole DeGrace

Learning Experience Designer · Remote

Results-driven Instructional Designer with 9+ years of experience creating scalable learning programs for sales, customer success, and product enablement teams. Skilled in developing customer education, onboarding, and upskilling initiatives that drive engagement and performance.

Experience

Instructional Designer 2024 — Present

Zillow

  • Design and manage multi-modal learning programs supporting internal enablement and customer education, blending learning, video, and simulations through Articulate 360, Vyond, Canva, Adobe, and more.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with stakeholders across sales, product, and marketing to build customer-focused, data-informed training that drives adoption, engagement, and readiness for new feature rollouts.
  • Leverage AI tools like NotebookLM and Replit with agile project management to accelerate development, enhance learner experience, and consistently deliver high-quality, on-brand education.
Senior Instructional Designer 2022 — 2024

Newfold Digital

  • Developed and led comprehensive learning solutions across six SaaS brands, aligning design strategy with business goals and collaborating with SMEs and leaders to translate training needs into measurable outcomes.
  • Managed projects end-to-end — from preparation and planning to design, development, evaluation, and iteration — driving increased course completion and employee retention through engaging, effective learning experiences.
Senior Instructional Designer 2016 — 2022

Rocket Mortgage

  • Spent 4 years as an instructional design–facilitator hybrid, advancing to an executive facilitation role while designing and delivering complex curricula for company-wide initiatives including sales effectiveness and technology adoption.
  • Applied data-driven evaluation to proactively create training content and enhance impact and scalability, while mentoring junior designers and aligning learning solutions with performance metrics.

Professional Highlights

80%+

Optional course completion rates, aligning programs with company success metrics

9+ yrs

Designing learning that drives real behavior change across sales, customer success, and product enablement teams

Core Competencies

Instructional Design LXD Onboarding & Upskilling Leadership Development Sales Enablement Customer Success Project Management LMS Administration Multimedia Production AI & Emerging Tech Data-Driven Evaluation Stakeholder Management

Technology & Tools

Design & Development

Articulate 360 Camtasia Canva Vyond Adobe CC Google Suite

LMS Platforms

Docebo Workday

Project Management

Jira Asana

AI & Productivity

NotebookLM Replit ElevenLabs ChatGPT Microsoft 365

Education

B.A., Sociology

University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

2012 — 2016

Get in touch

Let's make something great

Whether it's a new project, a collaboration, or just a conversation about learning design — I'd love to connect. Reach out by email or find me on LinkedIn.

Email me directly → Connect on LinkedIn →

I typically respond within a day or two. Looking forward to connecting!