How to Design an AI Role-Play Scenario and Persona

Design from the outcome#

A role-play is a means of collecting evidence. Before you write the character, write what a student who succeeds will have shown. A good outcome statement names an observable behavior: "elicits the chief complaint and two associated symptoms using open questions," "states a position and a walk-away point and holds to them," "explains a grade decision without becoming defensive."

If you cannot describe the behavior, you cannot design a situation that produces it or a rubric that scores it. Start there.

The seven parts#

1. Situation#

Describe the setting and what has happened. Give the student only what the real person would know. Keep it short enough that students can hold it in mind.

2. Student goal#

State what the student is trying to accomplish. The goal gives the conversation a direction and gives you something to score. Examples: obtain a history and recommend a next step, reach an agreement, calm a parent and agree on a plan.

3. Persona#

The persona is the AI's character. A useful persona covers:

• Name and role. Who they are in the situation.
• Background. Facts that shape what they say, such as history, job, family or prior experience with the student.
• Mood and manner. Anxious, impatient, polite, guarded. How they speak: short answers, long stories, interrupting.
• What they know. The facts the character can state without being asked.
• Hidden information. What they reveal only if the student asks the right question.
• Boundaries. What they will not agree to, and what would change their mind.
• Consistency. Facts that must not change during the conversation.

4. Ending rules#

Decide when the conversation stops. Options are a goal reached, a time limit, a turn limit or the student ending it. Clear rules make sessions comparable and keep conversations from drifting.

5. Reference material#

If the character has to be consistent with a case, a policy or a chart, supply it. Include the facts that matter and mark which ones the character may state.

6. Rubric#

Write four to six criteria that match the outcome. Common criteria include information gathering, communication, reasoning, handling of pressure and the quality of the final decision. Our rubric template gives a layout to adapt. Share the rubric with students.

7. Safeguards#

Tell students what the exercise is, that the character is an AI, how the record will be used and how to stop. For sensitive scenarios, add a content note and an alternative.

A persona template#

Copy and adapt the following.

Name and role: Maria Alvarez, 58, a retired bus driver visiting the clinic.

Situation: She has had chest discomfort for two days and has come in because her daughter insisted.

Manner: Polite, a little embarrassed, plays down symptoms. Answers briefly unless asked an open question.

Volunteers without being asked: Her name, her age and that she feels "a bit tired."

Reveals only if asked directly: The discomfort spreads to her left arm when she climbs stairs. She takes a blood pressure medication and has missed doses.

Will not do: Agree to go to the hospital until the student explains why in plain language.

Must stay consistent: The timeline of symptoms and the medication list.

Ends when: The student summarizes findings and recommends a next step, or after twelve minutes.

Adjust the details for your field. The same structure works for a client, a manager, a parent or a witness.

Common failure modes#

Test before students do#

Run the scenario at least five or six times, playing different students.

1. A strong student. Asks the right questions. Does the character reveal what it should?
2. A weak student. Asks vague questions. Does the character stay realistic without rescuing them?
3. A difficult student. Interrupts, changes the subject or tries to get the AI to break character. Does it hold?
4. A student who tries a shortcut. Asks the character to state the answer. Does it refuse in character?

Read each transcript against your rubric. If you could not score a criterion from the transcript, revise the scenario or the rubric.

Voice or text#

Voice makes a conversation feel natural and adds pace and tone to the evidence. Text is easier for students who are anxious or who need time to think, and it is easier to review. Where speech is not part of the outcome, offer both.

Practice and graded versions#

Write a second, parallel scenario for graded use. Students practice on one and are assessed on the other, so they learn the skill instead of memorizing the case. Mark practice attempts so they stay out of the gradebook.

Where Rocketproof.ai fits#

In Rocketproof.ai, an instructor gives the AI a name and role, instructions for how it behaves and what it may reveal, a greeting and the student's goal, and can choose a voice and an avatar image. The built-in assignment assistant can draft these fields from a description, and the instructor edits them before any student sees the scenario. A guided conversation uses a scenario, a goal and completion rules, and an assignment can be marked as practice. The AI simulations page shows examples.