Devlin Peck
Articulate Storyline 360 and Articulate Rise are two of the most popular eLearning authoring tools on the market.
Instructional designers and eLearning developers use these tools to create engaging learning experiences. If you subscribe to the Articulate 360 suite, then you can access both of them.
As authoring tools have different functionality, you will want to make sure that you choose the right tool for your project.
Now let’s explore what sets Articulate Storyline and Articulate Rise apart, as well as which authoring tool you should use based on the needs of your project.
Articulate Storyline 360 is a slide-based authoring tool with an interface similar to Microsoft PowerPoint.
Articulate Storyline is a blank slate ready to be developed into a course or interactive eLearning experiences. You can add text, images, and videos to Storyline slides.
You can also download templates for Storyline, but you can customize them as you please.
Articulate Storyline is a great authoring tool to create eLearning simulations, games, and very complex interactions.
If you’d like to see some examples of scenario-based eLearning with Articulate Storyline, then check out my Top 5 eLearning Examples. Not all of them were created with Articulate Storyline 360, but it would be possible to create them with Storyline if you wanted to.
You can also use Storyline to create scenario-based learning experiences that involve variables and branching.
Storyline 360’s biggest strengths are its ability to quickly create completely custom eLearning experiences.
You can design whatever interaction you set your mind to, and Storyline lets you do this with triggers, variables, conditions, and even custom JavaScript.
The tool also includes audio and video editing functionality; while this functionality is not perfect, it does include a rich feature set within the tool.
The biggest weaknesses of the tool are that it is not mobile responsive. You choose an aspect ratio, and that ratio is maintained no matter what device you’re on.
You cannot reorganize your layout or font size based on the device, so this leads to a lackluster experience on mobile devices.
Articulate Rise is a very different tool when compared to Articulate Storyline 360.
It’s templated and mobile responsive, and you build in it with a visual, cloud-based editor (whereas Storyline 360 is a desktop app).
Articulate Rise lets you create your own eLearning or interactive courses from scratch, and they have an impressive number of pre-built interactions available.
That being said, you cannot develop custom interactions or influence the visuals with fine-tooth control like you can in Storyline.
The biggest benefit of Rise, however, is the ability to create mobile-responsive learning experiences that look great on all devices. It is difficult to design an experience that looks bad on Rise, but, if you’re an experienced designer, then you may get frustrated with some of the visual design limitations.
Rise is great for projects where you need to present a lot of information with small interactions and quizzing throughout.
When deciding between Storyline and Rise, the consideration can be quite simple.
If you’re designing a story-driven, scenario-based learning experience and what to immerse the learner, then Storyline will give you the tools you need to bring an experience like this to life.
If you’re creating an information-heavy eLearning experience where you need to present info and conduct some quizzing, then Rise will let you develop your project more efficiently (and will likely be a better experience for the user).
Check out the video at the top of this article to see both tools in action and get a better idea of when to use which.
