I have a confession: I suffer from “Shiny Tool Syndrome.”

Like most eLearning practitioners, I am constantly hunting for the next big thing. I started my relationship with Adobe Captivate, moved on to a passionate affair with Articulate Storyline (that flexibility is hard to beat), and spent years deep in the trenches with Adapt.

But since 2018, my heart has belonged to the Evolve Authoring Tool.

It wasn’t love at first sight. In fact, it was a rocky start, with a few false starts, a detour into open-source code, and, eventually, a realisation that the tool I needed had been maturing in the background all along.

Here is the story of how I went from scepticism to becoming an Evolve Power User, and why the history of this tool matters for the future of learning design.

The Origin Story: The Panic of 2011

To understand why I use Evolve, you have to understand the problem it solved. Around 2011, the eLearning industry was in panic mode. Adobe Flash was dying (killed by the iPhone’s refusal to support it), and our slide-based tools just didn’t work on mobile phones.

The industry needed a solution that scrolled like a webpage rather than clicking “Next” like a PowerPoint.

Kineo, a major UK learning company, built the Adapt Framework to solve this. It was revolutionary. Realising they couldn’t maintain it alone, they invited competitors (like Learning Pool and Sponge) to join forces, releasing the code as open source in 2013.

My 2014 False Start

I first encountered Evolve in 2014. At the time, Evolve was created by Appitierre as a “premium” version of the Adapt engine.

I created some demos, kicked the tyres, and walked away.

At that stage, Evolve felt too limited. It was a great concept, but it lacked the flexibility I craved. So, I tried going straight to the source: the Adapt Open Source Framework.

I’ll be honest, the code was way over my head. I remember bribing the Dev team at work with bags of sweets just to help me install it on my computer because it was so tech-heavy. Eventually, I found a better option; Learning Pool’s Adapt Authoring Tool, which was great for a time. It gave me the interface I needed without the headache of the raw code.

The Return: Why I Came Back in 2018

But while I was busy building in Adapt, Evolve was quietly transforming.

By 2018, I realised that maintaining open-source tools, or relying on specific vendor versions, was not right for me. I looked at Evolve again, and it was a completely different animal. It had taken the powerful scrolling engine of Adapt and wrapped it in a slick, user-friendly interface that didn’t require me to touch a line of code or install anything on my hard drive.

I made the switch, and I haven’t looked back. Here is why Evolve became my daily driver:

1. The “App” Mindset I don’t even call it “eLearning” anymore; I tell my stakeholders I am building them an “App.” Because Evolve is truly responsive, it feels native on a phone. It allows me to build “Just-in-Time” training that lives in the learner’s pocket.

2. Visual Polish without the Code. In the early days of Adapt, customising a theme meant editing JSON and CSS files. The Evolve Authoring Tool lets me push branding beyond the template to match my stakeholders’ exact guidelines without needing a developer sitting next to me.

3. The Evolution of the Engine The histories of Adapt and Evolve are deeply intertwined, but they have diverged. In 2019, Intellum acquired Evolve, giving it massive financial backing. Then, in 2025, the “New Evolve” was released. This was a massive shift; rebuilt from the ground up, Evolve moved away from its underlying architecture to a modern tech stack that integrates AI.

The new version has moved slightly toward an AI ‘Rise-style’ experience. Since my clients come to me specifically for a bespoke learning experience, I’m sticking with the Legacy version for now, especially since it’s missing so many components. I’m not digging the update quite as much yet, but I see the vision, and the team is working tirelessly to improve it every day.

The Verdict

I am now a proud Evolve Power User.

If you are still sitting on the fence, or want something more robust than Rise, give Evolve another look. There’s a reason why Meta, Google, Pinterest, X, Xero, Cotton On, KPMG and Amazon all use Evolve.

It allows for complex, non-linear storytelling and deep vertical scrolling that feels modern and high-end. It takes the best parts of the “scrolling” revolution that started in 2013 and packages it for the modern designer.

I no longer need to bribe developers with sweets. I just open Evolve, and I build.

Ready to master Evolve? Stop compromising on your vision and start designing. Book a coaching session with me to fast-track your Evolve skills and become a Power User yourself.