Become an E-Learning Hero with Articulate!
July 16, 2015

Become an E-Learning Hero with Articulate!

Rick Jett | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Storyline 2

Modules Used

  • Storyline 2
  • Studio '13
  • Studio '09

Overall Satisfaction with Articulate

I know Articulate is being used by numerous groups in our organization, but I can only speak on behalf of my current department. We use Storyline 2 and Studio '13 to develop CBTs for our customers (internal). Building CBTs with Storyline allows us to reach a large number of our contingent workers and train them quickly. We are able to reduce some of the time spent on instructor led classes.
  • Ease of use. Anybody can pick up this software and build a CBT with ease. You do not necessarily need an Instructional Design degree to be proficient with Storyline.
  • Triggers, States, Variables, and more...... You can develop rich and engaging courses fairly simple with the use of triggers, states, and variables. All of the "coding" is done in the background by Articulate; you just have to tell it what to do and when. It's a very intuitive software.
  • E-Learning Heroes. This is an Articulate community where you can go to get help, or to check out the latest free downloads. If you're stuck on a project in Storyline, for example, you can post a question to E-Learning Heroes. Not only will other community members respond, but you'll also receive help from the Articulate staff. I look at E-Learning Heroes everyday even though I may not be stuck on a project. It's nice to just go out there and see what problems others are having, or to see what creative CBTs others have developed.
  • YouTube Channel. Articulate has their own YouTube channel with numerous videos. This is a great resource to use regardless if you are a beginner or expert Articulate user.
  • I'd like to see more options for font style. There's a lot missing when you compare to the font style features for Word or PowerPoint. But, this is not a deal breaker.
  • I'd like to be able to actually print out the Story View in Storyline. It would be a great feature to add because you can use that as your storyboard to provide to SME's and other project sponsors. Someone recommended taking a screenshot, but that's impossible to do if you're working on a big project.
  • There might be a way to do this, but I haven't figured it out yet or found an answer to it. Sometimes I create multiple buttons in Storyline and then later on realize that I need to change the features of the different states. It would be nice if I could do this for multiple buttons at once. But, when I try to do this, the states button is grayed out. Instead, I have to do it one by one. Normally, I would create a button first, setup the states and so forth, and then copy/paste so I don't have to worry about this. But, sometimes I get far into a project before I realize that this needs to be done.
As mentioned earlier, I used to use Adobe Captivate prior to Storyline. It has been at least 3 1/2 years since I've used Captivate, so it may have gotten better since then. But, from my experience, Articulate is much more intuitive and has a lot more features than Captivate. Overall, it is easier to use and is easier to complete a project in Storyline as opposed to Captivate.

The user really just needs to know in advance what they hope to accomplish with the eLearning software. Articulate, though, can do pretty much everything. I used to use Adobe Captivate, but it did not have the features that Storyline currently has, nor was it as easy to use as Storyline.

I would really push the user to try the free trial and get some hands on experience before making any decisions. I want them to understand for themselves how the software works and what it can do for them.