By James Purse, Director at Project7 · Last reviewed 13 November 2026 · 3 minute read
Short answer. Evan is Lean Simulator’s built-in facilitator: an on-screen Lean consultant who guides every learner from the first screen to the journey summary. He briefs each shift, coaches when something goes wrong on the floor, explains each Lean idea and leads the debriefs. A human facilitator can add to Evan or take over at any point.
Key facts
- Who he is: an external Lean consultant brought in because the Bike Co. is not shipping enough bikes to make a profit. Your team is his improvement team.
- Coverage: arrival, induction, shift briefings, private role briefings, controls, in-shift coaching, debriefs, six Lean lever explainers and the journey summary.
- Library: 108 voiced clips, with captions on every clip and on by default.
- Coaching: sparse by design, at most one prompt every 45 seconds during a shift.
- Control: hosts can stop Evan on every screen, mute him locally or replay any clip.
What Evan does
- Screen tours. From the very first screen, the page dims, the control you need is spotlit with a caption, and the tour moves on when you click it. Tours can be skipped or replayed, and remember where each learner got to.
- Briefings. Before each shift Evan explains what has changed and why, with a private briefing for each role.
- Coaching. During a shift, Evan responds to what is actually happening on the floor: stock piling up, a station starved of parts, a bike sent back for rework.
- Whole-room moments. When everyone needs to hear something together, the shift clock pauses so nobody misses it.
- Debriefs. After each shift Evan walks the team through the numbers, then steps out of the story to name the Lean idea.
Three ways to use Evan
| Mode | How it works |
|---|---|
| Evan leads | Evan carries the whole course, including the debriefs as reflection prompts. Ideal for self-paced learners. |
| Evan and a facilitator | Evan carries the mechanics and the theory. The facilitator adds context, stories and the client’s own examples. |
| Facilitator leads | The host stops Evan and reads or adapts his script, keeping the session entirely in their own voice. |
Why a built-in facilitator matters
Most Lean games depend on an expert in the room. Evan means a team leader, a trainer new to Lean or a single learner at a desk gets a consistent, well-paced session every time, and an experienced facilitator is free to spend their energy on the conversation rather than the mechanics.
Frequently asked questions
Evan is a rendered video character with a consistent voice, created for Lean Simulator. He plays an external Lean consultant brought in to help the Bike Co.
Yes. The host can stop Evan on every screen with I'll take it from here, or mute him on their own screen only.
Yes. Every clip has captions, and they are on by default.
Meet Evan in a free shift
Work one shift on the line with Evan guiding you. It needs only your email address: no card and no contract.
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About the author
James Purse is a Director at Project7, a UK operational transformation consultancy whose approach is grounded in Toyota thinking, and has nearly 20 years of practitioner experience in Lean, leadership and performance improvement. He works with manufacturing, engineering and infrastructure organisations to find what is really limiting performance and to fix it alongside their own teams. James Purse on LinkedIn