We recently held our first Build-a-thon, focused on pushing the possibilities of the Rise 360 Code Block. With more than 60 submissions, the community brought incredible creativity, experimentation, and problem-solving to the challenge.
Winners were selected by community vote, and these top three stood out, each stretching the Code Block in a different direction. These projects demonstrate how the Code Block can bring fresh, meaningful interactivity to Rise.
Dive in to explore the three winning builds and what you can learn from each one.
đĄ Try It Yourself: Rise 360: How to Use Code Block | Creating Blocks with Vibe Coding
While the Code Block is fully supported, Articulateâs support team canât troubleshoot or debug custom code added to a course. If youâre experimenting, save and back up your course versions before making changes. For peer-based help or feedback, join the Code Block Group to share ideas and solutions.
First Place: âMeet Your Learner Personaâ by ClaudiaNadol891â
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About the Build
This project is a playful, two-minute interaction designed to help learners reflect on how they prefer to learn.
As a newcomer to vibe coding, Claudia leaned into experimentation, using ChatGPT and Lovable as collaborative partners. After exploring both simple and more complex interaction patterns, she made a choice to keep the experience lightweight, favoring micro-interactions that quietly support learning rather than compete with it.
This build proves that thoughtful prompt writing and iterative refinement can produce polished, learner-friendly interactions, even without deep coding experience.
From the Community
âThis is a meticulous prompt!! I love this idea so much.â - JenniferSavage-â
âWell done! I especially like the stacked cards, offset, and counting down from 10.â - Thomas_Shayonâ
What You Can Learn
- Treat your prompt like a design brief. Clear goals and structure lead to better results.
- Prioritize simplicity. Lightweight interactions can have powerful impact.
- Expect iteration. Refinement isnât failure, itâs part of the process.
Creator Q&A
Claudia: Before starting my project, I did some research on prompt writing. Thereâs a lot out there. I took notes, looked at examples, and got inspired by how others structured their ideas.
What helped me most was being as specific as possible. When youâre clear about what you want the outcome to look like, the brainstorming becomes easier. Iâm a big fan of lists and bullet points, so I structured everything that way. It made my thinking clearer and the results better.
I learned that a strong prompt saves time, reduces frustration, and gives you a much better starting point. It doesnât mean everything will be perfect from the first try, but it moves you much closer to what you actually want.
Claudia: Trust the process, and donât be afraid to be a beginner.
Itâs very easy to feel overwhelmed and think, 'This is too much,' or 'I donât understand anything,' or 'Maybe Iâll try this another time.'
On the first day of the build-a-thon, I generated my first code and was amazed by what AI could do. But when I tried to adjust the design through prompts, I got a bit frustrated because it didnât look the way I wanted. Thatâs when I realized I needed to improve how I was prompting.
Once I started writing clearer and more detailed prompts, things began to look the way I imagined. So my biggest shift was this: trust the process, allow yourself to be a beginner, and keep going even when it feels messy.
Claudia: It taught me a lot, and it definitely accelerated my learning.
Iâm sure I would have explored vibe coding and the Rise Code Block feature at some point. But I donât think it would have happened this quickly or this deeply without the build-a-thon. Iâm genuinely grateful for that.
The Rise Code Block opens up so many possibilities. It allows you to go beyond standard layouts and create something more customized and interactive. It really feels like you have endless room to experiment and elevate your learning experiences.
Claudia: The process itself. I get a lot of positive energy from learning and building, and this project was no different. Even with the friction and the many iterations, I enjoyed it. Every round of changes taught me something new.
I remember getting so excited seeing how, with every iteration, the pile of cards looked better and better. I just couldnât shut down my laptop.
Beyond the interaction itself, I also loved doing deep research on how others are using AI in learning. That part was just as inspiring as building.
So for me, itâs not just the final result Iâm proud of, itâs the growth, the curiosity, and the excitement throughout the whole journey.
Second Place: Accessibility Reality Checker by SheriLeeâ
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About the Build
Sheri created the Accessibility Reality Checker after noticing that much accessibility training follows a predictable pattern: it explains rules, but it doesnât change decisions. Teams often ship inaccessible experiences not because they donât know the guidelines, but because the tradeoffs feel invisible in the moment.
Rather than building another checklist-style tutorial, she designed a short, decision-based simulator built around one core question: âWhich would you ship?â
The experience includes custom UI, scoring logic, state management, and step flow. It also models accessibility best practices directly in the interaction itself, using semantic HTML, keyboard-operable controls, visible focus states, and high-contrast color choices.
From the Community
âThank you for demonstrating that usability needs to be built into a design and not just an after thought.â - Michael_Isholaâ
âI really enjoyed this interactive demo on accessibility. Great way to get the learners engaged and thinking about the design and process.â - CharlottieMa153â
What You Can Learn
- Design for decisions, not just information. Simulations can recalibrate instincts.
- Use constraints intentionally. Fewer instructions can increase impact.
- Model what you teach. Build accessibility into the experience itself.
Creator Q&A
Third Place: Paint by Num-Birds by ArthaLearning03â
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About the Build
For this team of avid birdwatchers, trying to "onboard" people to the hobby always poses a classic blocker: "How do you tell the birds apart?"
Rather than relying on default interactions like flip cards or checklists, they designed a hands-on âworkshop spaceâ where learners visually analyze key bird features. The experience combines anatomy diagrams, reference snapshots, and field notes, then challenges learners to apply what theyâve learned by identifying subtle visual differences on their own.
Behind the scenes, the team blended vibe coding with human expertise. The build went through multiple rounds of refinement to improve usability, stabilize the code, and polish the interactive diagram.
From the Community
âThis was amazing and fun! I see potential for other âpaint by numbersâ usesâŚâ â LinneaConelyâ
âWOW â Lots of interactivities â I could see this being used for medical training.â â TracyWindsorâ
What You Can Learn
- The Code Block supports custom, workshop-style environments.
- Use AI strategically. Refine small components instead of rewriting entire files.
- Balance experimentation with direction. Know when to step in manually.
Creator Q&A
ArthaLearning03â: Keep a code "scratchpad" when working on your build. Once you land on a snippet that works-- don't let it go! We had more success building up individual components within the whole, rather than attacking the entire block at once.
ArthaLearning03â: Not all AI's are built the same. Some models prioritized look, while others nailed the functionality. Some couldn't help us progress with our block at all! Having an expert in the loop, like our senior developer, helped us determine the most useful pieces to take from our AI collaborations.
What Will You Build?
These three projects stretch the Rise Code Block in very different directions, while sharing one key theme: thoughtful experimentation. From structured prompts to simulation design to ambitious custom UI, each build shows that meaningful interactivity doesnât require a full development environment, just curiosity, iteration, and a willingness to try.
If youâve been curious about experimenting with the Code Block, let this be your sign.
Explore additional Build-a-thon submissions and share your own experiments here.
Which of these builds surprised you most, and how might you apply a similar idea in your own Rise course?
