In some studies, participants are assigned ethnographic or communicative tasks, such as field-work observation, life-story interviews, and photography. These studies usually involve in-person interaction, both for the participants doing the task and for the researchers in engaging with participants throughout the research process. Our study was part of an interdisciplinary research project at a Malaysian higher education institution, aiming to develop a dental curriculum that emphasizes humanistic values and soft skills. Using a quasi-experimental design, our mixed-methods study explored a communication-focused approach to cultivate empathy among dental students. After undergoing soft-skills training, the students would participate in urban soup kitchens to engage with older adults and document their life stories using photographs and narratives. We planned to collect various types of data, including psychometric survey scores, recorded interviews, student feedback, and the older adults' life stories. Although face-to-face interaction was essential to our research plan, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to adapt the study to an online mode. The overall framework remained, with psychometric survey data collected before and after the dental students engaged in a life-story documentation task. However, we changed several methodological elements to fit the online implementation, including the target interviewees, task details, and methods for training the students. In this case study, we describe methodological and practical considerations, as well as challenges faced, in adapting the study from in-person interaction to online mode. [This content is provided in the format of an e-book.]