Articulate 360 Reviews

Pros

What I love about Articulate is the ease of use. We use this for internal and external process and we rarely run into issues where people don't know how to use it. It's a clean and clear design which is also helpful for the type of training we create, since we are usually pairing down dense content and making it more interesting. The modern interface and features makes our products look great and makes the customer happy because they now have something that feels more exciting to their learners. The ability to add voiceover in Storyline and adding graphics/widgets in Rise are little things that go a long way in helping to make our training interactive and much more interesting for clients. The project review tab also makes it easy for our clients to go in and add feedback and for us to retain that feedback, which helps with the efficiency of the project (less calls, emails, etc).

Cons

I do sometimes wish we had the opportunity to add voiceover within Articulate, particularly in Rise. We'd like to be able to have a few more options for that as our clients request it frequently and we feel like we have to do a stop-gap approach of just small snippets. I also know that the widgets don't always function as they should, however, these are small glitches that usually are handled by the Articulate team quickly.

Pros

Articulate 360 comes with a full and powerful suite of software that is easy to learn and easy to use, including Storyline 360. My team consists of a mixture of veteran and novice instructional designers and facilitators. Presenter 360 is especially useful for my novice designers and facilitators as it is so easy to use and mirrors the PowerPoint software they are already familiar with, while giving them the power of a Storyline project. The training and community support available are unmatched with any other software I have used to date.

Cons

Templates can be built and reused easily for Storyline, but not as easily for Rise. There have been a few issues with certain fonts not being supported, but the help desk reached back out to me (almost 8 months later) when the issue was resolved. The content library is immense and included, but will not load more than ~20 pictures at a time.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Captivate and Litmos

Reasons for Switching to Articulate 360

We chose to go with Articulate 360 as it had the shortest learning curve and the easiest onboarding. The support and training are unparalleled.

Pros

Not much

Cons

It is not much of an authoring platform with most features available in the most basic LMS.

Pros

This software has changed my life and the experience of the learners I develop content for. Articulate 360 gives options. Have an amazing idea and need to start from scratch? Storyline is the place to go. It is so easy to use and there are a ton of tutorials, suggestions, and examples in the community forums. The templates in Rise allow for quick development of modern, easy to navigate online training (and I have used them to present information as well). The Content library is AMAZING! From photos to illustrations and icons - you'll find what you need. I no longer have to go to outside sources - everything I need is in the content library.

Cons

The only suggestion I have is regarding Rise. I love how easy it is to plug and play information but I would like to see just a little more flexibility with editing. If I want to change more of the look I will just use Storyline, but Rise has a nice feel to it and would just like to make small edits - like remove a line in one of the text formats (I think it's statement A. There are workarounds, but more flexibility with design)>

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Captivate

Reasons for Switching to Articulate 360

I chose Articulate 360 because of it's ease of use during the trial period. Unfortunately I could never get Captivate to download. I loved how my finished product looked when using Storyline and Rise, the content library is so extensive, and it is super easy to download my finished course and upload it directly into my LMS. My customers love the product I am delivering and its all because of this software.

Pros

This is such an easy tool to adopt and use for training. We use this to create training programs for various initiatives at our organization. All products help us make the final eLearning courses for our stakeholders. From the video creation capabilities found in Peek and Replay 36 to making interactive content in Storyline and Rise. It also makes it absolutely easy for your stakeholders to give feedback on the material created when using the Review feature. Comments can be made directly onto a slide and/or scene of your course. It is also extremely easy to create a professional looking and cohesive program using the different templates and media found in the Content Library. I am so happy we got this product since Adobe is a steep learning curve for those of us new to instructional design.

Cons

Perhaps my biggest pain point is in regards to logging in. Sometimes, I receive errors while logging on. I believe it has something to do with my organization's strict information security / networking guidelines. They are wary of cloud-based systems right now.

Pros

Overall features are great for designing e-learning courses. Overall user friendly. Ability to publish in multiple ways including SCORM, PPT, etc. Streamlines the creation of elearning courses

Cons

While overall its easy to user, there are some features that are missing from Storyline and require you to build using java script. Thus in order to be a master of Storyline, you also have to be a master of java script. If the software can do something, it should be able to be built using the software, not going somewhere else.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Captivate

Reasons for Choosing Articulate 360

Storyline is more inline with the future of elearning than captivate.

Switched From

Adobe Learning Manager

Reasons for Switching to Articulate 360

Storyline allows for more interaction in the creation of courses than captivate does.

Pros

Easy to use. Advanced actions in highly interactive courses are so easy to design and build. I have some previous experience as a developer in flash, so I can be quite creative in my ambitions - as of yet, I'm yet to find anything that can not be built using triggers and variables. Having been a long time user of Adobe Captivate, I often had to add code to achieve similar functionality in my course builds.

Cons

There are times that a course file just corrupts and cannot be saved. This is very infrequent - it has happened to me a few times. Often, you can save it by ensuring you save a new version of the course. However, I have found when working intensively overnight on a course build,. the file corrupted and I had to start the build almost from scratch. It wouldnt discourage me from using this software over any alternatives.

Pros

I like that there are regular updates and support with the subscription model. The multi state object interface is so much better than captivate’s.

Cons

It is very pricey for a freelancer and the publishing options can be confusing for packaging your course correctly for Captivate Prime LMS

Pros

Very active user community to get ideas and solve issues. Built in photos, icons are so useful.

Cons

The expense is higher than other elearning authoring tools.

Alternatives Considered

Camtasia and Adobe Learning Manager

Reasons for Switching to Articulate 360

The integration of Review 360 is a motivating factor because reviewers without an account can make comments on content.

Pros

Rise was very intuitive to use.

Neat interface.

The features allow the course to be interactive and engages with users.

Rise integrates with Storyline.

Cons

Rise can be a bit more customised (e.g. font type, layout, course structure, block format).

Quite costly.

Pros

Articulate Storyline is the one we use and like the most. It's easy to start producing e-learning content thanks to the familiarity the interface has in regards to PowerPoint. One can easily find and edit anything they might need.

Cons

There are some things that need to be researched to get done on software and that they get discussed on Articulate's forum. I wish they added new features often, with more updates. For example, there's no specific "timer" option on evaluations. This could easily be added, but it has to be programmed. That's the way I've gotten around to having that done, at least.

Alternatives Considered

iSpring Suite and Adobe Captivate

Reasons for Switching to Articulate 360

Easier use, variety of tools integrated to 360, compatibility with our platforms, quality in the publication of courses.

Pros

- Articulate's community is just a click and email away...support when you need it. The amount of free templates, storyboards, ideas, and graphics is absolutely amazing. We all share information, issues, and resolutions together, making for a true "community" of e-Learning professionals.
- Articulate's Storyline 360 tool enables you to import a PowerPoint and add engagement through built-in interactions, or you can start from scratch and build the same look and feel.
- Easy enough for beginners, robust enough for programmers.

Cons

This is harder to define because Articulate is amazing at taking feedback and requests from its community and adding it to the roadmap for the product. We are awed by the sheer number of enhancements provided in their updates to the product.

Pros

Articulate Rise is currently my favorite tool for simple web based training development. Very easy to build beautiful and responsive courses that flow well and are easy to navigate. Great interactive elements that work well on any device, and overall a very nice tool for simple elearning courses.

Cons

Support and frequency of updates are just horrible. I've never worked with a product that was so poorly supported and so painfully slow to receive product updates and new features. Manny very basic feature requests that have been submitted on multiple tools within the 360 suite by hundreds of users have been "in development" for over 4 years. In the 3 years I've used the toolset, bug fixes and feature updates have been so infrequent, they're almost non-existent.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Captivate

Pros

I think Articulate have worked really hard to develop as full a suite of tools that most e-learning professionals will need on the job - including Storyline, Rise and Review. I do like the Content Library for the most part but when you work in a specialist industry, it becomes very limited very quickly.

Cons

Rise is missing a lot of features that would make it more desirable than using Storyline in these days of rapid development. Storyline development is just too slow to work with regularly in my day-to-day work so I rely on Rise more (though this is due to working with another piece of software in another job that was similar but far superior however for agnostic device development, it's useful) - they need to configure the software to handle far more functionality such as more than 1 option for multimedia in a specific function type, i.e. I would like to add more than a single picture in an Accordion or Timeline function. I also don't like the Scenario function where you are stuck to using cheesy character photos when you have ones you want to upload and use. There needs to be a lot of tweaks to make Rise as superior as other products on the market.

Pros

What I like most about this program is how user-friendly it is. When I first started using Storyline, I found it easy to get the hang of it and it wasn't long until I was creating courses without any assistance. I also love the icons feature that is available in Storyline 360. I use it a lot and can't imagine developing without it now.

I also like that if I need support, most questions have been asked online on Storyline forums. They always provide detailed explanations of how to do certain things and other users are also helpful in sharing what they know. The fact that the program has a community of supporters leaves me feeling confident that I can figure out any problem that I have.

Storyline is definitely my preferred eLearning development software.

Cons

There are a few program features that I would love added. I would love to be able to specify exactly how curved corners on shapes are (the yellow boxes that you drag) rather than doing it by eye. I also think updating the alt-text for accessibility should not be split by elements within an object but as an object as a whole (for example icons picking up on individual shapes rather than the icon as whole).

Pros

This is so much easier to use than anything else our team has tried. We can easily create a PowerPoint presentation and then convert it to and Articulate Storyline file. This means that a lot of the legwork is done before we even begin working in Articulate

Cons

Things start getting a little difficult when we are creating tests/quizzes in Articulate. There are a lot of options and we have to be extremely thorough and detail oriented when it comes to creating pre/post exams for the relevant courses.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Captivate

Reasons for Switching to Articulate 360

Ease of use.

Pros

Articulate 360 offers so many options for creating training material to fit any audience or format. My favorite Articulate programs to use for our company LMS are RISE and Storyline. This software allows your creations to really engage your audience, producing better quality associates.

Cons

Its really hard to find a negative. The only thing I found difficult was learning to put coding into Storyline to create a 'simulation' of our company systems. Once you learn how to do it, its easy after that! And be able to recreate your systems into a simulated environment gave the best hands-on experience we could possible give our new hire associates.

Pros

Articulate 360 is actually a suite of apps, some of which are installed on your computer and others that are accessed online. Each app has a specific purpose that all contribute to your ability to create robust, interactive eLearning. The software package includes not one, but two different apps to author your courses. Storyline 360 is installed on your computer and is the go-to for more complex courses with lots of interactive. Rise360 is the online authoring tool and it is great for rapid development of simpler courses that are still interactive and visually engaging.

Cons

My biggest complaint about Articulate360 is how much is slows down opening and using other software on my system at the same time. This is particularly pronounced when I am using the Storyline app.

Pros

The free templates are amazing. I love their community site that is up-to-date on LD trends and challenges. Everyone that has taken one of my courses on SL2 likes how fun and engaging they can be. I can add all types of file formats, different types of quizzes, interaction, and multimedia.

Cons

I never seem to feel like an expert as some of the functions/interactions are hard to create. I went to a two day training on SL2 and it didn't teach me enough as I am still trying to figure out variables and how they work. Sometimes the E-Learning Heroes take days to get back to me if I have an issue and don't always explain in detail how to correct the issue.

Pros

I love how intuitive the UI is - very similar to the familiar Office suite. Tons of triggers, animations, and media types to make great elearning. Especially useful is the layers function, which makes it easier to create rich media and manage the source files.

Lots of my clients really appreciate the review site and our communication there, and it makes it easier for me to manage feedback!

Cons

You definitely need to be an expert in order to make the most of this tool; while a novice may be able to create objects and basic animations, you've got to dive pretty deep to use all of the features. You'd be surprised that the elearning courses you've taken before which look like they are built by the most creative developers and designers are actually done in Storyline.

It's also insanely expensive and make it cost prohibitive for most.

Pros

The innovative team behind the software is always making improvements and with Articulate 360, those updates are available to you immediately versus having to wait until you can upgrade to the next series. Also, your imagination is the limit! You can create just about anything by using power point experience, some logic and your imagination. It has an amazing user and staff community that can help you solve issues from triggers, to java script to just figuring out the design from another designers perspective. The 360 package comes with easy access to characters, icons, images and videos. One of my favorite tools is the feedback link so that subject mater experts and stakeholders can provide feedback that ties with the slide they are viewing. Articulate 360 also comes with other goodies like the ability to create a simple website course in Rise to also having a decent screen recording tool.

Cons

It will freeze and shut down more often than you like so be sure to save often to your local drive and change your auto save from the default 10 minute interval to 5 minutes.

Pros

Articulate Review blows me away. Reviewing content with project stakeholders and clients has always been a major pain point for me, and with Dropbox ending its Public Folder support in 2017, Review has come in at just the right moment.

The Content library will save me hundreds of dollars a year in content licensing fees, and Rise makes it easy for me to quickly create new types of content.

Publishing in HTML5 and previewing how content will look on multiple device types is amazing.

Cons

I don't really use Articulate Studio 360, so I think it would be nice to offer customers a small discount if they wanted to leave that feature off. But then again, at the current price point, I'm not going to complain.

Pros

Easy to Use: Articulate has done a great job with this product's UX/UI.
Convenient: with 360, you have solid design tools, review tool, asset bank, and more.
Saves Time: The content development tools' UI allows you to quickly create contents. Moreover, you can publish courses/review/preview with the click of a button.

Cons

First and foremost, the pic/video embedding feature have limited resolution, so your courses are not in HD. I understand that helps us save hard disk space, but it does affect the resolution a bit.
Secondly, Articulate Rise has only a few feature options to support multimedia/multi-sensory needs. For instance, it doesn't allow background audio. Of course, you can always resort to Articulate Storyline for that.

Pros

I love Rise in the Articulate 360 suite! It is easy to use, streamlined, professional and functions like any eLearning course. I can create eLearning courses in half the time using Rise in Articulate 360. The knowledge check block is a great way to assess the content learned included right in the course versus having to go to another site to do the knowledge check. The images to choose from are of great quality and fit into most topic areas. The functionality and the clean look make for an engaging and interactive course!

Cons

You are definitely constrained to the functionality in Articulate 360 versus using Storyline but there are a lot of options in Rise to customize.

Pros

The thing I like the most is how easy it is to use, it’s very similar to PPT when you’re first getting started and you can create basics. At that point, the sky is the limit on Articulate as far as expanding your skills and creating extensive interactivity. Articulate 360 includes a package deal of so many different products.

Cons

I think Rise has some limitations I’m hoping to be addressed in the future I.e. developing templates and being able to share your product across your team. It would be nice if I didn’t have to share each of my elearnings built in rise with everyone in my department if they need to access in the future.