Storyline - Organic, Fast Development
Updated November 28, 2016

Storyline - Organic, Fast Development

Sam Sternman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Storyline 2

Overall Satisfaction with Articulate Storyline

I use Storyline for all of our online softskills courses (within Human Resources). Our Education Services team also uses Storyline for many of their consumer products. Storyline assists me with a more rapid, fluid development cycle (vs. Captivate) and allows me to move quickly through the ID process as well as any changes that result from drafts/reviews.
  • Simple user interface.
  • Triggers (actions) are much easier to create than in Captivate.
  • The characters, particularly the additional bundles, offer a diverse range of photo characters that are great for a global company like ours. You can enhance the images by creating your own characters (they must be ready to scale, though) or purchase third-party characters from companies such as eLearning Brothers.
  • The support on the Community site is far superior to anything that Adobe has/will offer in the future...the amount of tutorials, examples and freebies is staggering.
  • More animation/movement options should be found in later releases of version 2 (let's not see another full release for a while).
  • There are some funky type issues with Storyline 2 - awaiting some bug fixes. Type, when paired with some animations, can be unruly and misbehave.
  • It would be great to have access to more characters (the cost is high for this software and there is no "cloud" version to save on upgrades) included.
  • Version 2 release seemed more like a patch than a full upgrade. Hopefully, the R&D costs will be recovered with this version so that Storyline 3 really has some new stuff that adds to the already organic interface.
  • Faster production cycle
  • Confidence in HTML 5 deployment
  • More engaging content (out of the box)
Captivate (user since Version 3), Camtasia (user since version 2), Lectora Inspire (freaking awful software - makes using anything, including Moodle, a joy). Storyline just feels different from all of these "competitors". It's organic, fun to use, instantly engaging for the ID process and super fast when it comes to putting titles together.
Probably not the best for software training - use Captivate or Camtasia for that. I'd make sure that you enlist the help of a trained graphic designer (not self taught) when using Storyline - while a non-graphic user can create content, it's what you do with the screens that will set you apart.

Using Articulate Storyline

1 - eLearning design + development
1 - Experience with branched interactions, basic Action Scripting (although not needed, it's a plus to understand how coding works related to animations, timings and triggers), timelines, storyboarding and user interface design.
  • eLearning development at a rapid pace
  • no hassle LMS publishing features
  • no Action Scripting
  • replace Captivate content (entirely)
  • add YouTube videos without third-party plug-ins
  • mobile learning
  • standalone CBT
  • n-demand learning
No other options like Storyline at the moment. I wonder if TechSmith is going to develop an eLearning platform soon...hmm.

Evaluating Articulate Storyline and Competitors

Yes - Captivate - too clunky, too time consuming and the palettes/interface changes too often, lack of decent characters
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Prior Experience with the Product
  • Vendor Reputation
  • Existing Relationship with the Vendor
  • Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
No hassle publishing to various LMS platforms
I would have kicked Captivate to the curb earlier

Articulate Storyline Implementation

Do it. Get rid of Captivate.
Change management was minimal - I wish the product had been around in the early 2000's.
  • converting bad Captivate files

Articulate Storyline Support

Just the web site tutorials and help files are enough...VERY well done.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Whenever I need anything, I visit the Community site. It's all there, at my fingertips, and the search engine is stellar.

Using Articulate Storyline

It's a nice, clean interface and it works really well in our LMS. You can't ask for more than that.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • LMS publishing
  • triggers
  • character inserts/poses
Yes - It's new for the Articulate360 product. I will plan to update my review once I've had more exposure to the software version.

Upgrading Articulate Storyline

Yes - The upgrade to Articulate 360 was great - I was part of a Beta Test group so I was fully prepared for the changes and extra, super cool new features and integrations.
  • new characters
  • the "dial" feature for timeline insertions
  • mobile publishing options! YAHOO!
  • better interactivity
  • mobile deployment