Deeper Learning
Puzzle Bus
From boring assessment to educational escape rooms that help us measure collaboration, communication, and creative problem solving.
The Deeper Learning Puzzle Bus was a mobile educational escape room designed to rethink how we assess students.
Built inside a retrofitted delivery truck, the project invited educators and students into a fast-paced, collaborative challenge where they solved puzzles under time pressure while simultaneously making visible critical skills like communication, collaboration, and creative problem solving.
Developed at the Stanford d.school in partnership with researchers and educators, the Puzzle Bus reframed assessment as something experiential, human-centered, and even joyful.
Beyond the experience itself, the project sparked national conversations about the limitations of standardized testing and inspired educators across the country to design their own classroom-based escape rooms as a way to both teach and measure deeper learning.
What began as an experimental idea became a widely recognized model for how design can transform not just what we learn, but how we understand learning itself.
“The Puzzle Bus isn’t just an educational tool—it’s a dream of what could be. It represents the joy of learning and doing with others, providing a space to reconnect and grow.”
– Louie Montoya
Moment
Standardized testing had become a cold, lonely experience for students, leaving educators with no way to measure the "soft skills" required for future problem solvers. We adopted a DIY, scrappy ethos—treating the test as a "real-life adventure game" rather than a clinical evaluation.
Mindset
We adopted a DIY, scrappy ethos—treating the test as a "real-life adventure game" rather than a clinical evaluation.
Method
By retrofitting a Fritos delivery truck with low-cost puzzles and custom observation tools, we modeled how to measure collaboration with fidelity in any environment.
Momentum
The project reached critical mass at SXSW EDU, transforming several hundred educators' perspectives on assessment and proving that delight is a necessary component of deeper learning.
Our
Motown Sound
Just as the "Motown Sound" remained unmistakable whether it was The Supremes or Marvin Gaye, Only People has a signature resonance.
Our work spans vast terrain, but you’ll "hear" our AAA sound—Accountability, Adaptability, & Authenticity—in every beat of what we do. Different people, same soul.
Accountability
We shifted accountability from a solitary test score to a mutual commitment within the group. By design, the escape room forces teams to take shared responsibility for navigating complexity and solving problems together.
Adaptability
The project was built on radical resilience. Our ability to scale the program from a tiny experiment into a global conversation required constant iteration, a bias toward action, and an immense capacity to navigate utter chaos with joy.
Authenticity
The Puzzle Bus wasn't built on rigid perfection; it was built on scrappy, everyday craft supplies. This simple, approachable design modeled an invitation for educators and students to bring their full, imperfect, and genuine selves to the work.
Yes is the answer.
“Only people know just how to change the world.”
– John Lennon
Only People is becoming a world class, future proof & employee owned learning experience design studio serving our seventh generation by helping people remix how the(ir) world works today.*
*Only People is also a song by John Lennon featured on the album ‘Mind Games’ released in 1973. But it’s more than a song. It’s more than our name. It’s our melodic mantra.
Deeper Learning
Puzzle Bus
From boring assessment to educational escape rooms that help us measure collaboration, communication, and creative problem solving.
The Deeper Learning Puzzle Bus was a mobile educational escape room designed to rethink how we assess students.
Built inside a retrofitted delivery truck, the project invited educators and students into a fast-paced, collaborative challenge where they solved puzzles under time pressure while simultaneously making visible critical skills like communication, collaboration, and creative problem solving.
Developed at the Stanford d.school in partnership with researchers and educators, the Puzzle Bus reframed assessment as something experiential, human-centered, and even joyful.
Beyond the experience itself, the project sparked national conversations about the limitations of standardized testing and inspired educators across the country to design their own classroom-based escape rooms as a way to both teach and measure deeper learning.
What began as an experimental idea became a widely recognized model for how design can transform not just what we learn, but how we understand learning itself.
“The Puzzle Bus isn’t just an educational tool—it’s a dream of what could be. It represents the joy of learning and doing with others, providing a space to reconnect and grow.”
– Louie Montoya
Moment
Standardized testing had become a cold, lonely experience for students, leaving educators with no way to measure the "soft skills" required for future problem solvers. We adopted a DIY, scrappy ethos—treating the test as a "real-life adventure game" rather than a clinical evaluation.
Mindset
We adopted a DIY, scrappy ethos—treating the test as a "real-life adventure game" rather than a clinical evaluation.
Method
By retrofitting a Fritos delivery truck with low-cost puzzles and custom observation tools, we modeled how to measure collaboration with fidelity in any environment.
Momentum
The project reached critical mass at SXSW EDU, transforming several hundred educators' perspectives on assessment and proving that delight is a necessary component of deeper learning.
Our
Motown Sound
Just as the "Motown Sound" remained unmistakable whether it was The Supremes or Marvin Gaye, Only People has a signature resonance.
Our work spans vast terrain, but you’ll "hear" our AAA sound—Accountability, Adaptability, & Authenticity—in every beat of what we do. Different people, same soul.
Accountability
We shifted accountability from a solitary test score to a mutual commitment within the group. By design, the escape room forces teams to take shared responsibility for navigating complexity and solving problems together.
Adaptability
The project was built on radical resilience. Our ability to scale the program from a tiny experiment into a global conversation required constant iteration, a bias toward action, and an immense capacity to navigate utter chaos with joy.
Authenticity
The Puzzle Bus wasn't built on rigid perfection; it was built on scrappy, everyday craft supplies. This simple, approachable design modeled an invitation for educators and students to bring their full, imperfect, and genuine selves to the work.
Yes is the answer.
“Only people know just how to change the world.”
– John Lennon
Only People is becoming a world class, future proof & employee owned learning experience design studio serving our seventh generation by helping people remix how the(ir) world works today.*
*Only People is also a song by John Lennon featured on the album ‘Mind Games’ released in 1973. But it’s more than a song. It’s more than our name. It’s our melodic mantra.
Deeper Learning
Puzzle Bus
From boring assessment to educational escape rooms that help us measure collaboration, communication, and creative problem solving.
The Deeper Learning Puzzle Bus was a mobile educational escape room designed to rethink how we assess students.
Built inside a retrofitted delivery truck, the project invited educators and students into a fast-paced, collaborative challenge where they solved puzzles under time pressure while simultaneously making visible critical skills like communication, collaboration, and creative problem solving.
Developed at the Stanford d.school in partnership with researchers and educators, the Puzzle Bus reframed assessment as something experiential, human-centered, and even joyful.
Beyond the experience itself, the project sparked national conversations about the limitations of standardized testing and inspired educators across the country to design their own classroom-based escape rooms as a way to both teach and measure deeper learning.
What began as an experimental idea became a widely recognized model for how design can transform not just what we learn, but how we understand learning itself.
“The Puzzle Bus isn’t just an educational tool—it’s a dream of what could be. It represents the joy of learning and doing with others, providing a space to reconnect and grow.”
– Louie Montoya
Moment
Standardized testing had become a cold, lonely experience for students, leaving educators with no way to measure the "soft skills" required for future problem solvers.
Mindset
We adopted a DIY, scrappy ethos—treating the test as a "real-life adventure game" rather than a clinical evaluation.
Method
By retrofitting a Fritos delivery truck with low-cost puzzles and custom observation tools, we modeled how to measure collaboration with fidelity in any environment.
Momentum
The project reached critical mass at SXSW EDU, transforming several hundred educators' perspectives on assessment and proving that delight is a necessary component of deeper learning.
Our
Motown Sound
Just as the "Motown Sound" remained unmistakable whether it was The Supremes or Marvin Gaye, Only People has a signature resonance.
Our work spans vast terrain, but you’ll "hear" our AAA sound—Accountability, Adaptability, & Authenticity—in every beat of what we do. Different people, same soul.
Accountability
We shifted accountability from a solitary test score to a mutual commitment within the group. By design, the escape room forces teams to take shared responsibility for navigating complexity and solving problems together.
Adaptability
The project was built on radical resilience. Our ability to scale the program from a tiny experiment into a global conversation required constant iteration, a bias toward action, and an immense capacity to navigate utter chaos with joy.
Authenticity
The Puzzle Bus wasn't built on rigid perfection; it was built on scrappy, everyday craft supplies. This simple, approachable design modeled an invitation for educators and students to bring their full, imperfect, and genuine selves to the work.
Yes is the answer.
“Only people know just how to change the world.”
– John Lennon
Only People is becoming a world class, future proof & employee owned learning experience design studio serving our seventh generation by helping people remix how the(ir) world works today.*
*Only People is also a song by John Lennon featured on the album ‘Mind Games’ released in 1973. But it’s more than a song. It’s more than our name. It’s our melodic mantra.