Sam S.
Articulate 360 - On A Roll
With the new release almost 30 days old, I have to say that I was anxious to get access to the update so that I could incorporate some of the new features in my late 2016 course titles. As a beta tester for the Articulate 360 "suite", I learned quickly that the R+D team at Articulate made some great decisions about how their applications worked together, how their impact on the use of characters could continue to excite designers, and how their seamless approach to mobile learning would, well, blow their competition out of the water. They are, as they say, on a roll. I'm most excited about the new, super classy illustrated characters (with a definite medical bent). For me, it's all about the za-za (aka, "wow") factor - if it looks cool, then use it. The new illustrated characters, for example, introduce a whole new realm of possibilities that get rid of the potential Debbie Downers who "hate" cartoons and offer a great way to keep consistent characters in play over a range of courses - helping to brand the look and feel for an organization's eLearning output without having to spend a ton of time on photoshoots or finding just the right model for the job - just grab some background shots and add in the Articulate characters. It can't be more simple and more professional looking. Did I mention that the diversity is outstanding? It is. Someone is paying attention at Articulate. Throw in the new mobile publishing options and the other onscreen trigger options, including the new "dial" control, and you have endless possibilities - without all the Action Script mess. And, to top it off, and here's the big drum roll from me, I've kicked Captivate to the curb (ok, well, I'm doing it on 1/31/17 when my "contract" is up). I've had enough woes from my previous pals at Adobe and I am super excited about the integration of the previous "Studio" lineup from Articulate, so I can ditch Presenter, too. It's all seamless. And, you get Rise, too. If you haven't checked that out, you should. But that's another review.



