Welcome to the Navigatr Badge Framework repository.
About the Navigatr Badge Framework
Elements of the Navigatr Badge Framework
Digital badges are a visual representation of learning experiences.
They are issued or awarded by organisations to recognise achievements.
Individuals can share badges online to showcase their achievements that have been verified by the issuing organisation.
There are two sides of a digital badge.
The badge visual The focus when a recipient shares their badges on social media or share their collection of badges via their profile
Badge metadata Information hosted on its own webpage with a description, criteria, skills tags - before it's issued it's called a badge class.
Once the badge is ‘issued’ to a recipient the information is updated to include their name, and details of when they received the badge (this is called a badge assertion).
Screengrab A - Individual Profile example from Navigatr.app 2024
Screengrab B - Individual’s Badge Assertion example from Navigatr.app 2024
Thousands of organisations use badges to recognise different types of achievements and learning, they are implemented to drive engagement, highlight skills, and provide data on learning outcomes.
With digital badges gaining traction around the world and skills shortages growing, digital badges provide a way for skills to be recognised outside formalised qualifications.
During our work over the last 12 years consulting on digital badge strategies and creating them on behalf of organisations, we recognised a need for a common sense visual language to help people understand the kind of learning badges symbolise.
Our hope is that adoption of a framework that is evolving and collaborative will help us set a standard for what good quality badges look like, demystify digital badges and speed up adoption for the whole badging community and support the creation of learning pathways to help people see what the next step in their learning journey is, even if it’s not linear.
The Digital Badge Framework is a versatile and user-friendly set of design templates for creating digital badges.
Our templates are designed to suit various types of learning and achievements, ensuring that badges are not only visually appealing but also meaningful and professional and saving hours of thinking when it comes to starting a new badge programme for your brand.
All templates are provided for free under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Find out how to attribute here.
Our visual templates include the following fixed elements:
Types are signified by the shape of the badge in order to give learners and organisations a clear differentiator for different types of activities and help bring structure to their badge offerings.
Modes indicate the amount of effort required to earn the badge in a visual way. These are not levels, but can map to more formalised levels using the subtitle on the badge and fields in the badge information or metadata.
The mode is signified by the colour shading on the badge visual, which can be customised to the organisation's brand colour at Apply and Teach mode.
Lead mode is always full gradient and black.
Customisable elements include:
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The title
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The subtitle
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The colour (at apply and teach mode)
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The logo
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The Border & Navigatr ident: This signifies if the badge has been quality assured by Navigatr. This could be customised to show quality assurance by another organisation.
There are two ways to make use of the framework for your own badges.
- Create an organisation account on Navigatr start a 14 day free trial here and use our AI badge Assistant.
Badge Assistant will write the badge information based on a prompt about the experience or achievement you’re looking to recognise.
You’ll also receive a badge visual recommendation. The visual type and mode that best aligns with the Framework from the information in the prompt. You can then customise this choice with your own brand colours and logo or change the type and mode manually.
- Use this quiz to find the best badge template for your needs, download the file and edit the branding in a photo editing tool such as photoshop or a free alternative like GIMP, Pixlr or PixelMater.
This framework is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
If you are hosting your badge on a platform other than Navigatr.app, on a website or in any other materials, please credit Navigatr as the original creator.
Copy the text below and paste it on your work or presentation, the standards or ‘framework’ field of your badge or in the credits of your media.
The Digital Badge Framework © 2024 by Navigatr is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Membership
Certification
Training
Informal Learning
If you’re looking for a more professional touch or need assistance with designing your digital badges our Quality Assurance Team and specialist partners can help to ensure your badges meet the highest standards, this can include:
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Professional Design Assistance: Tailoring badges to fit your specific needs and branding.
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Compliance Checks: Ensuring your badges comply with industry standards and best practices.
Contact us today hello@navigatr.app to learn more about how our managed service can elevate your programme or to enquire about joining our quality team.
Version 1 of The Navigatr Badge Framework has been developed as part of a collaborative initiative developed in partnership with a community of digital badging experts both from the UK and internationally including;
The Navigatr Team; Mark Riches, Tim Riches, Katharine Courtney
Andrew Flowers
Anna Sheard
Doug Belshaw
Karen Pontin
Stuart Martin
If you would like to contribute to the next version of the Framework or use it within your service offering please email framework@navigatr.app.