Responsive design in Storyline 360

Nov 11, 2016

Hi,

I know we can preview the course in desktop, tablet and phone mode. But can you actually do responsive design in Storyline 360? If yes, how so?

-Ben

90 Replies
Phil Mayor

It is, I was talking about how you design your screen layouts, the aspect ratio and slide size you choose, as well as layout, positioning alignment.

All of these will help improve the user experience.

Articulate do have a fully responsive option in Rise and perhaps that may be a better solution.

Darren McNeill

Hi, just my penny worth here. It depends on the mobile device referred to. Tablets and laptops should be able to view correctly the courses in landscape mode and so this should be an instruction and recommendation at the beginning of the course. It is not generally accepted for anyone to attempt an Elearning module on a smart phone, as the screen is too small. Best practice for smart phones is to use it to view videos in landscape mode and to manage your account in the LMS using the phone. To take a course then use a PC, Laptop or Tablet. Even Rise is a push for Smart Phone screens which is a Responsive and adaptive option. Even good Elearning modules are a challenge on Smart Phones unless the screens are basically stripped down to very basic text an image, but from my experience our users have never had a great experience attempting a course via a Smart Phone.

Darren McNeill

Storyline is simply a tool, it does not make assumptions. An experienced Instructional Designer is still required to build a course that works. Programmers are not required, but an Instructional Designer is. I teach Instructional Design and I also teach photography and Photoshop. If I had a penny for every time someone says, "I have Photoshop so I should be able to do what you do also then". My response is " If you buy the best paints, brushes and canvases, will you paint a Rembrandt?" Again, Storyline like any other authoring application is simply the tool to construct the final result of the work put in my the SME working with an Instructional Designer, and or a Graphic Designer".

Diego Molina

Hi, Darren, thanks for your input. I agree I wouldn't recommend completing a course on a smartphone. However, when I published my course I sent out a feedback questionnaire and I learned that almost 70% of my students used a mobile phone to do the course even though I recommended a desktop or laptop. That is why I am concerned about this responsive issue. I am a freelance teacher and the license fee is a lot, a lot for my pocket. That is why I need to research well before I make a huge step. 

Diego Molina

Exactly, I am a translator and Spanish language teacher and the same happens to me, lots of people see themselves as translators just because of they speak a second language. I discovered ID just this past year and started doing a masters degree just this month. I hope in the future I can learn enough to publish my courses in a professional manner. I put this question here as a way to research and learn from the experts. 

Phil Mayor

I have never used iSpring but looking at their site i dont think it is responsive more adaptive similar to Storyline 360.

I have built courses that work well on smartphones  and also translate well to the desktop.

If 70% of your students are viewing on a smartphone that may be the device you need to target. Either that or add a recommendation at the beginning of the course and ignore smartphones.

Darren McNeill

Then Rise actually might be the solution, or Storyline with very basic content on the slide. You can preview live how the content will look on different devices to check, as you build.
the only option then is to strip down the content, so instead of trying to but one Slide of content on the screen, split it out to several slides instead. If 70% of the students are using their Smart Phones, then unfortunately based on Needs Analysis, you will have to build to meet the need. My only criticism is that, if you have recommended that the users use a laptop or Tablet and they are ignoring your instruction, then they should not be in a position to be complaining. It seems to me that the students are trying to inconvenience themselves to attempt the course so make their lives easier, instead of making a concerted effort to sit down and actually take part in the course. Its tough love :)

maxime favero

best adaptive is captivate....
anyway, SL give you a responsive player, than, like PHIL said, you have to design a bit, and think about the result of your slide on mobile... you can not do your course and think it will be ok for a smartphone and a computer... if you are a teacher you think everytime about the knowledge...
You cna not write the same text on a big board or on a book... same same for elearning! 

Daniela Aravena

The problem is that when I see my project in a cell phone or a mobile device the font gets so small this means that I'll have to use enormous font size on the desktop version in order to be visible in a mobile device. I'll be very helpful that we could at least choose the font size for the responsive part. 

Jillian Canode

Hi all - I'm having an issue with the course displaying the black bars on top and bottom in our LMS. I contacted them, and they said it was something with the file and not with their site. I'm using the modern player in SL360. Any idea why I still have the bars? The bars actually get bigger when I rotate to landscape on my iPhone. 

Thanks!

Vincent Scoma

Hi Jillian, 

Thank you for letting us know! 

Is this happening when previewing your course or only in the published output? May I ask if you could share a screenshot of what you are seeing? 

With your permission, I'd like to take a look at your project file to investigate what's happening. You can share it publicly here, or send it to me privately here. I'll share my findings with you and delete it when I'm done troubleshooting!

Mark Montes

I have to agree with those above in calling out Storyline in not supporting responsive design...just a responsive player.  The distinction is crystal clear.  Our firm utilizes both Storyline and Captivate.  At least Captivate has fluid boxes which enables one to develop responsive design.  Within the Articulate suite, Rise is clearly the responsive design option, but one does not have the flexibility to utilize states or layers in their design strategy in the same fashion as with Storyline.   As we are developing more mobile friendly courses, I want to create the most responsive experience I can.  Reviewing the entire thread of commentary above, the capabilities of each tool to me are crystal clear when it comes to deciding which one to use for my responsive development objectives.