Why
The user is an instructional designer building a self-paced, asynchronous course that takes casual
Claude users (email drafting, quick summaries) to genuinely capable ones. The gap being closed is
not "knows more prompts" — it is that casual users have no mental model, so when output is bad they
either accept it or quit. The course has to ship, be usable without an instructor, and survive
learners working alone at 9pm with no one to ask.
Success looks like
- A module-by-module curriculum outline (6–8 modules) a course producer can build directly from.
- Every module carries: objective, core concept, hands-on exercise, self-check, and a named
misconception with the specific instructional move that defuses it.
- Sequencing that is defensible — each module's dependencies stated, not just an ordering.
- A capstone that starts from an open prompt, not a template, and can legitimately end in
"AI does not fit this task."
- Completion criteria that function with zero human grading.
Constraints
- Learners on Pro / Max individual plans. No org-shared knowledge, no admin-gated tooling.
- General professional audience — role-generic examples with per-role variants.
- Delivery platform supports auto-graded quizzes (instant right/wrong + feedback).
- Synthetic source material only — every exercise ships with realistic fictional documents.
No exercise may require the learner's real work data.
- Each module completable in a single 20–40 minute sitting.
- Claude-specific throughout: real feature names, real interface paths.
- Zero coding background assumed.
Out of scope
- Automation: scripting, agents, workflow tools, the API. The course stops at confident,
capable use of Claude itself.
- Model architecture, math, transformer diagrams.
- Team/Enterprise administration.