Intrepid By VitalSource Reviews

“User friendly platform!”

Pros

Right away the platform's design and overall functions made a strong impression on me and the support your team provides to us as partners has been excellent! I've worked with other LMS platforms before and aside from a few areas that could be improved this is still one of the most user friendly systems I've come across. I also really value the connection we have with Cindy, Nick, JR and Nishali because being able to contact them directly makes a huge difference and I never feel like I'm left on my own :)

Cons

There are still some limitations in reporting that affect how well we can track completion especially in more complex programs. It's difficult to identify and communicate to leaders which learners are struggling with specific modules or more broadly where the weakest points in a program are and why learners are getting stuck there. I'm really hoping the AI features will eventually make that kind of analysis available almost instantly. I'd also love to see a stronger cross program dashboard that gives us clearer data to demonstrate its value to leadership such as top classes by completion rate, time to productivity, learner satisfaction, speed to productivity within the platform, top searches and the most common learner questions or issues. Content search and recommendation are also areas where I see room for growth. Currently it can be difficult to locate certain content or build career development experiences that recommend relevant training already on the platform based on learner needs, previous searches, results or self assessments. I'm also hoping for more career development tools like skill benchmarking and learning mapping to better support employees in their role and career growth. On the content creation side while there are already several format options I'd really like to see the selection expanded to better match learner needs. We recently started building virtual escape room style activities and noticed that quiz options are limited mostly to multiple choice and yes/no when it would be much more useful to also have matching, fill in the blanks, sequencing and similar formats. It would also be helpful to have newer content and channel formats that align more closely with social media style experiences. Another big improvement would be the ability to change the format of an already created tile that would save a lot of time.

“Easy course builder”

Pros

Their admin panel is very easy to work with and the course builder makes creating new content quick and simple!

Cons

A few glitches remain with the call to action features and we are not always notified when those updates happen.

“cohort learning done right !”

Pros

Has been a really solid platform for cohort based applied learning. It does an excellent job of supporting structured multi week learning journeys by bringing together content, discussions, assignments and facilitator interaction in a way that feels smooth. The learner experience is clean and it encourages accountability and social learning far better than a traditional LMS. It works especially well for leadership groups that want to learn, develop and grow together with input from both peers and a leadership coach.

Cons

The weaker areas are customization, advanced analytics and more flexible content authoring. The reporting works well enough but it doesn't go very deep. If an organization is looking for a highly branded experience or something more adaptive the platform may feel a bit limiting.

“Platform thats always up to speed”

Pros

One thing this platform does really well is provide plenty of ways to get up to speed with webinars, training sessions and demo opportunities that help showcase what it can do. Other than that the social learning features, content curation and sharing and collaboration tools make it a very capable option in the LXP space with a lot to offer.

Cons

A noticeable downside is the lack of any mobile app which can make things harder for all types of users. There's also no free trial or demo trial available and the admin side of the platform feels fairly limited.

“reliable training”

Pros

Rolling out training to tens of thousands of people works smoothly on this platform and it has been very stable throughout. On top of that the interface is very user friendly which makes supporting people on the platform much simpler.

Cons

Building stronger social interaction on the platform can still be a challenge. I'd really like to see it keep pushing further and expand what it can do in that area.

“engaging elearning”

Pros

Creating engaging eLearning programs with this platform feels very simple and efficient.

Cons

Something it's missing is solid global translation support so adapting content into other languages isn't as simple as it should be.

“Customizable learning design”

Pros

Is user friendly and very accessible which makes building content much more engaging and learner focused. The platform looks polished and gives plenty of customization options so it's possible to structure the content flow in a way that really works well for learners. I also appreciate being able to combine video, audio, text, context and activities in one place since that supports different learning styles and covers the full range of Bloom's taxonomy from quizzes all the way to peer reviewed projects :)

Cons

Even though the platform aims to include a social element it still has some shortcomings with notifications when users post comments, start discussion topics and similar interactions. People tend to expect something closer to Facebook or other social tools they already use and it doesn't quite meet that expectation. Because of that the discussion forums usually end up being one of the lowestrated parts of the platform since users don't get as much value from those features as they hope to.

“cool interactive features!!”

Pros

From the beginnning the platform offers a lot of useful tools that make an eLearning program feel highly interactive. It includes strong features like polls, video, discussions, quizzes, gamification and leaderboards. It's also very customizable and the interface is really user friendly. Participants genuinely enjoy using it!

Cons

On the downside the backend for some features feels buggy especially quizzes. There are also a few quirks in the way certain elements have to be set up. One project and review process became so complicated that we ended up scrapping it and handling it another way.

“Keeps getting better”

Pros

The platform keeps evolving and improving and the team behind it is making meaningful progress to push it forward.

Cons

The current billing setup isn't my favorite. Charging per user (per month) along with deduplication and billing partial months at the full rate just doesn't feel like the best approach.

“supportive team, limited flexibility”

Pros

A thing that has stayed positive is how open the team is to feedback and how willing they are to act on it! The support team also puts in a real effort to keep service levels high especially during difficult or crisis periods. Overall it's a solid tool with a clean and simple interface that is fairly easy to use.

Cons

Progress on new product development feels too slow. It also isn't very mobile friendly and the responsive design does not work particularly well. It would be helpful to have a superuser group involved in shaping new features and testing them before release. Better API integration is also needed. Interaction between participants and moderators is not very strong or effective and from an admin perspective there are still too many manual steps with not enough flexibility for bulk actions such as downloads, copies or word replacements.

“Time efficient experience”

Pros

Whether it's a quick lesson on the go or a larger more involved training program this platform fits really well with the way people learn today. It gives learners a modern, compact and time efficient experience without adding unnecessary friction and it works nicely around the time and setting they have available. A big plus is that it actually makes learning enjoyable. Also it handles fairly large and complex training programs effectively. From an instructional design and admin standpoint it's amazing to work in and the support team has been outstanding! Professional, responsive and genuinely helpful :))

Cons

There's still some room for improvement around reporting and content authoring features. The assessment tools work well enough for basic knowledge checks but they're not quite powerful enough for more complex evaluations.

“structured system with branding limits”

Pros

Navigation is simple, the structure is clear and features like the leaderboard and resource center add real value.

Cons

The biggest downside is the limited branding flexibility. It's hard to get the exact look and feel we want and the many boxed in design elements make everything feel too restrictive.

“interactive learning that clicks!”

Pros

One of the best parts of this platform is how interactive it is encouraging people to learn both on and away from the computer instead of staying stuck in front of a screen! It's also clearly built around strong, research backed educational principles that support how people actually learn best.

Cons

My only real wish is that it came with a dedicated mobile app even though the platform itself is mobile responsive.

“fast in house content delivery”

Pros

As admins we can build content on the spot and get it into our sales channels and in front of learners really quickly. Keeping content management in house saves us a lot of time and avoids a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Cons

Tracking content is challenging when there aren't unique identifiers for each piece.

“powerful digital learning”

Pros

Right away the polished yet easy interface made a strong impression and the platform delivers high quality content in a way that mirrors (sometimes even exceeds) what's possible with traditional instructor led training. It has helped us roll out Prepare and Embed content digitally which has really increased the ROI of the time we spend together in person. We've been able to scale in ways that previously felt out of reach and launch global programs within remarkably fast timeframes.

Cons

An area that still needs work is reporting which feels somewhat limited at the moment. I'm hoping the product roadmap includes stronger dashboarding and related improvements. I'd also really like to see it build partnerships with other best in class tools to create a stronger learning ecosystem such as exam and assessment platforms, reporting and analytics solutions and content aggregation options that allow managers to self-serve.

“Great learner experience”

Pros

From both the developer and learner side the experience is hard to beat! I can put together high quality content quickly and if I want it's instantly available to learners. I can even make updates on the spot using only a tablet. Breaking learning into smaller modules gives a lot more flexibility both when creating content and when going through it as a learner. The final presentation consistently looks impressive!

Cons

A drawback is the limited integration with SCORM based learning modules since it doesn't function like a traditional LMS. Because of that we're not able to properly assess skills as completion data from the SCORM module doesn't carry over.

“clean design and solid templates”

Pros

The platform has a really polished look and the templates are fairly simple to work with.

Cons

I do wish there were more ways to spice things up and make the learning experience interactive but the sandbox feels too limited for that.

“flexible training with instant previews”

Pros

Something that really works well is how flexible it is for different training needs. As an instructional designer being able to view content in its published format right away is a huge plus. It also does a nice job of integrating training into the actual work environment where people are expected to use it.

Cons

The editor does have some glitches especially with formatting issues like bullets overlapping nearby images.

“centralized onboarding hub”

Pros

From an admin standpoint having all of our tools and information gathered in one place has been really helpful. It's been especially useful for onboarding since we can quickly guide new team members to the tasks they need to complete from day one through their first 90 days.

Cons

I do wish the platform offered stronger email features especially for drip campaigns. Since we bring on new hires every week we still have to rely on MailChimp to send scheduled email sequences.

“engaging discussions and collaboration”

Pros

The discussions, moderation and online collaboration are the strongest parts of the platform for me. I also really appreciate the visual layout which makes the platform pleasant to use.

Cons

The only downside is when some cohort members don't participate or engage in the process.