Item: Adobe Captivate
Rating: 7
Author: Robert Nunez

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Adobe Captivate is being used by the Training Department for e-learning training purposes. This is currently used by both our safety training department and HR training department. Currently, we are focusing our e-learning efforts on yearly renewals for our safety team. This year, we will concentrate on adding more e-learning content to complement our ILT for a more blended approach.

Pros and Cons

Great amount of control.
Excellent image resolution for beautiful e-learning content.

The review button after the assessment is taken puts you in an infinite loop and Adobe has known this and will not do anything about. It doesn't work.
The UI is still in the 1990s. This is 2020.

Return on Investment

Increased interest in developing more content because of the high interactivity and beautiful slides.
Adobe Captivate has helped with the retention of knowledge, which is always a challenge.

Alternatives Considered

Articulate Storyline and Articulate 360

Storyline is a lot easier to use and both the UX and UI are superior. The quality of Articulate's video learning are superior to anything Adobe has created, although Poojah (I hope I spelled her name correctly) is an amazing instructor for Adobe. And she is highly accessible. With Storyline, if you know how to use PowerPoint, you know how to use Storyline. The learning curve on Captivate is much steeper.

Where Adobe Captivate stands out is Storyline's decompression on images can make a high-resolution image look okay, even when you modify the decompression. With Captivate, you have remarkably beautiful images. Never underestimate the impact that a well-designed e-learning module will have on its learners.

Support Rating

They are responsive and for that, I give Adobe a 9. In resolving issues, I give them a 3. There is an unresolved issue with the VR feature on Captivate and they cannot figure out what is wrong. They followed up, they called me and arranged for us to discuss the problem. They did not know what I was talking about and I had to show them a training session from THEIR trainer to show them what was not working. This remains unresolved.

Key Insights

Do you think Adobe Captivate delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Adobe Captivate's feature set?

Yes

Did Adobe Captivate live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Adobe Captivate go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Adobe Captivate again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Articulate Storyline, Camtasia, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe InDesign

Likelihood to Recommend

In a corporate setting, having an interactive e-learning module is imperative and this is Adobe Captivate's greatest strength. The interaction is highly conducive to knowledge retention, which makes Captivate a great tool.
If you need to create something quickly, you will need a rapid development tool. Captivate is not for quick development. Since I am the training manager at a construction company, I will use what we say all the time, use the right tool for the right job. Captivate is not built for that rapid development.

Create beautiful modules with Captivate...with a few headaches.

Overall Satisfaction with Adobe Captivate