criteria for rise vs. storyline?

I would love to see some answers for this as well!

Personally I find myself in Storyline almost always. As you said, more customizable. Also easier for me to make accessible. In Rise I feel like I am more dependent on what's already baked in and I can't change everything I want to without custom CSS and that just isn't my strength right now.

In Storyline I can almost always solve the puzzle of what I want to accomplish.

I plugged this into AI and it kicked out a decent framework. Check it out below: 

1. Project Requirements & Complexity

• Level of Interactivity: Use Storyline for complex branching scenarios, drag-and-drop activities, simulations, or games. Use Rise for simple, pre-built interactive blocks (tabbed interactions, labeled graphics, flashcards).
• Navigation Style: Use Rise for modern, linear, vertically scrolling web-style content. Use Storyline for custom, non-linear navigation controlled by variables and triggers.
• Customization & Branding: Choose Storyline for pixel-perfect design control over layouts, animations, and custom interactions. Use Rise for faster branding (logo, colors) but within a more rigid, templated structure. 

2. Learner Experience & Content Type

• Mobile Responsiveness: Use Rise for true mobile-first, responsive design that automatically reflows content for any screen size. Storyline projects are fixed-dimension, which may not scale ideally on mobile.
• Content Volume: Rise is superior for text-heavy content or organizing information into small, manageable, bite-sized lessons.
• Multimedia Integration: Use Storyline if you require highly complex layered audio narration, precise synchronization of animations, or custom video controls. 

3. Timeline & Development Resources

• Speed of Development: Rise is best for rapid development (hours or days). Storyline generally has a steeper learning curve and longer development times.
• Team Skill Level: Rise can be used by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) or beginners with minimal training. Storyline requires proficient instructional designers or developers.
• Collaboration: Rise allows for real-time collaboration with multiple authors in a browser-based environment. Storyline requires file-based sharing. 

4. Technical, Accessibility & Assessment Needs

• Accessibility (Section 508): While both are capable, Rise makes it easier to create accessible content without advanced knowledge, as it enforces best practices. Storyline offers more control over accessibility, but requires significant time investment to set up properly.
• Assessment Complexity: Use Storyline for complex assessment scenarios, customized feedback based on user choices, or non-traditional question types. Use Rise for simple, quick knowledge checks.
• Software Simulations: Storyline is the standard for recording software walkthroughs ("Try, Practice, Simulate"). 

Summary Checklist for Decision Making

Hey bdkloepple​! I love this conversation and I assume people's answers are going to vary depending on their skills, preferences, and use cases—I think this will be an interesting thread for me to watch as someone who works at Articulate :) 

I think your point about the tradeoff between speed and customizability is basically correct—and the framework shared before from chatgpt is pretty good. 

What I would add about how I personally think about the difference between these two tools is that Storyline is essentially an open development environment whereas Rise is a development environment with guardrails. Because of this, Rise courses tend to end up looking more similar to one another, whereas I could build everything from an Escape Room to a Music Video with Storyline :) 

What I haven't seen anyone mention yet is that these tools are not an either/or, but meant to compliment each other—I often see creators creating everything they easily can in Rise, and then dropping in a few slides created on Storyline where they needed more customizability to create, say, a section with a software simulation. Similar to how if I wanted to build a website, I might start with a site-builder or even with AI, and then go on to make tweaks to the existing framework with custom code. I think learning both tools & how and when to use them together is often your best bet!