The A380's targeted demographic is very much beginner-intro, the menu and interface is geared towards simplifying the function. The graphics on the display are more detailed to convey the function in an easier to understand manner. It has excellent image quality, and an excellent live view system. The down sides are that, its the noisiest 1600 ISO available now, many complaints about the grip being 'too small', but that of course is subjective to your hands.

Considering its geared towards beginners, its not much of a stepping stone, unless you plan on stopping at beginner level. The A5XX and A700 will offer a lot more advanced function and feature for more advanced manual control, so I think they would make the better stepping stone. They also both have nicer grips, and much better high ISO image noise, especially the A5XX.