When & How to Use Articulate Storyline vs. Rise
In this guide, we're going to explore the differences between Articulate Storyline and Rise, two popular eLearning authoring tools that we use and love.
Understanding when and how to use each tool allows you to use them to your advantage to create effective and engaging online courses.
After reading this guide, you'll have a clear understanding of whether Articulate Storyline or Rise is the right tool for the job. This knowledge will help you create more efficient, engaging, and effective online courses.
Why Choosing the Right Tool Matters
Many people struggle to choose between Articulate Storyline and Rise because they're unsure about the strengths and limitations of each tool.
Common problems are:
Lack of clarity on the key features of each tool.
Uncertainty about how each tool aligns with different learning objectives and content types.
Confusion about which tool is more cost-effective for their needs.
Difficulty in determining which tool offers better learner engagement.
Through this guide we're going to clarify these points and help you make the right choice for your eLearning projects.
Let's dive in.
Understanding Articulate Storyline
Articulate Storyline is a powerful eLearning authoring tool known for its advanced interactivity and customisability. It's ideal for creating complex, scenario-based courses that require intricate branching or gamification elements.
Key Features of Articulate Storyline:
Advanced interactivity: Create highly interactive courses with triggers, variables, and layers.
Customisable player: Tailor the course player to match your branding and learner needs.
Screen recording: Easily create software simulations and demonstrations.
Personalisation: Respond to learners with dynamic, personalised training content.
For example, if you're creating a course on workplace safety with Storyline, you can design an interactive scenario where learners navigate through different safety protocols, making decisions that lead to various outcomes.
This immersive experience can significantly enhance their understanding and retention of the material.
Exploring Rise for Rapid Development
Articulate Rise, on the other hand, is a web-based authoring tool that's perfect for quickly creating responsive, mobile-friendly courses.
It's best suited for straightforward, informational content that needs to be accessible on any device.
Key Features of Rise:
Rapid development: Quickly create courses using a range of pre-designed templates and blocks. Or even better, create your own templates to build courses with.
Responsiveness: Courses automatically adjust to fit any screen size, ensuring a seamless learning experience on all devices.
Collaboration: Multiple authors can work on a course simultaneously, speeding up the development process.
Storyline integration: Rise allows you to embed Storyline interactions, meaning you can still include interactive scenarios for better learning experiences.
Using Rise, you can quickly assemble a clean, engaging course with multimedia elements that learners can access on their smartphones, tablets, or computers, ensuring maximum accessibility and convenience. For example, Rise is great for learners who need to access information on-site, in the form of a quick reference guide in the flow of work.
Determining the Right Tool for Your Project
When deciding between Articulate Storyline and Rise for your eLearning project, it's essential to evaluate the specific requirements of your course. The choice between these two tools hinges on several key factors, including the complexity of the content, the desired level of interactivity, and the development timeline.
If your course would benefit from tailored customisation and interactivity, Articulate Storyline is the better choice. Storyline allows for the creation of intricate scenarios, simulations, and assessments.
It's particularly well suited for courses that require learners to engage deeply with the content, such as technical training or soft skills development. The ability to create custom interactions means that you can tailor the learning experience to meet the exact needs of your audience.
If you need to develop a course quickly and ensure that it is accessible across all devices, Rise is the way to go. Rise's user-friendly interface and pre-built templates enable rapid development of courses that look professional and are automatically responsive. This makes it perfect for creating informational courses, compliance training, or any content that needs to be disseminated swiftly and accessed on-the-go.
Cost Considerations
Storyline and Rise are included in the same subscription so you’ll always have access to both. Upfront costs are therefore the same. The costs to consider are in both the development time and long-term value.
Rise is known for its rapid development capabilities. Its intuitive interface and pre-built templates allow for quick assembly of courses, significantly reducing the time and effort required. This speed translates to lower costs, especially when you need to produce a high volume of courses or update content frequently.
On the other hand, Storyline offers a wide range of advanced features, including custom interactions and complex branching scenarios. While these capabilities allow for the creation of highly engaging and interactive courses, they also demand more time and expertise to develop. As a result, the costs associated with using Storyline can be higher, particularly for intricate projects.
Whilst cost is an important factor, the needs of your learners should always come first.
If your audience requires highly interactive and immersive learning experiences, the investment in using Storyline may be justified.
If your learners need quick access to straightforward, informative content, Rise could be the more cost-effective and appropriate choice.
Learner Engagement and Ease of Access
As I just mentioned, the most important consideration of all is your learners and their learning needs.
If your learners need highly engaging, interactive content, Storyline's capabilities are unmatched. Its features enable the creation of complex scenarios, interactive quizzes, and custom animations, which can significantly enhance the learning experience.
This level of interactivity is particularly beneficial for subjects that require deep understanding or skill development, as it allows learners to actively participate and apply their knowledge in simulated environments.
However, for learners who require quick access to content on various devices, Rise's responsive design is ideal, ensuring that courses look and function seamlessly on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
This provides learners with the flexibility to access the material anytime, anywhere which is especially advantageous for just-in-time learning or for audiences that are always on the move.
Not only that but Rise's streamlined, user-friendly interface makes it easier for learners to navigate through the content, leading to a smoother and more efficient learning experience.
A Direct Comparison: Storyline vs. Rise
Interactivity: Storyline offers advanced interactivity, while Rise is more limited in this aspect.
Development Speed: Rise enables rapid course development, whereas Storyline requires more time for intricate designs.
Development Cost: Storyline courses take longer to build compared to Rise courses meaning it can become more costly to create courses using Storyline.
Responsiveness: Rise courses are inherently responsive, while Storyline requires additional adjustments for mobile compatibility.
Collaboration: Rise supports real-time collaboration, a feature not available in Storyline.
Our Recommendation
Choosing between Articulate Storyline and Rise depends on your specific eLearning needs. Understanding the strengths and limitations of each tool allows you to make an informed decision that enhances the effectiveness and engagement of your courses.
We find that building courses with Rise and embedding Storyline interactions allows for the best of both worlds. The speed and cost advantages of Rise with the complex interactivity of Storyline results in beautifully responsive and interactive courses that your learners will love.
I hope this guide has provided you with the clarity you need to choose the right tool for your next eLearning project.
We use both Articulate Storyline and Rise to create and deliver engaging eLearning courses that learners love. If you need expert support in bringing your eLearning to life, get in touch.
