Quite often I am asked for an opinion on which rapid elearning development program I think is best for beginners to use.

And nearly time I am asked this question I struggle finding the right answer.

I think I have difficulty answering this because I don’t really know what is meant by “beginner”.

It is a pretty subjective term. One person’s “beginner” definition may be totally different than another.

Ultimately I like to know a bit more about the person’s background before recommending a certain tool to use. However, more important is what kind of training is being developed.

I think looking for a beginner-friendly tool is the wrong approach. Sure, some would argue that certain rapid elearning software solutions are easier than others – but choosing the “easiest” option doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the “best” option.

There are many potential choices out there, and I have used only a small sample of them. Namely, my experience (to varying degrees) has been with Articulate Studio, Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Oracle UPK, and iSpring.

If you consider the content creation components in LearnDash similar to rapid elearning development, then clearly that’s on my list of software too 🙂 .

In using each of these solutions I find that certain project needs require functionality that one option may do better than another.

By way of example, if interactive software demonstrations are needed then Captivate and Oracle UPK both shine.

Again that is just one potential project requirement. The other requirements may change which tool is best.

I suppose this is all just a long-winded way of saying: don’t choose a software solution that is best for beginners because no matter what tool you use you will eventually move past the beginner phase.