Hello world!

Hello world!

by

  • UW Bothell – badges

    Created a series of badges templates to be used across the university.

    The badges had to be

    https://www.uwb.edu/wetlands/herbarium/digital-badge

    Why badges begin at UWB?

    The badges need to represent the level of accomplishment, and in order for a user to even get one they need to take a week of  training, so it is very important and IT needs it.

    Project Requirements

  • Two different

    • Official academic build up badge
    • internal  badges for things like Information technology  student training badge
    • Certificates and micro credentials like “Photoshop” or “Final Cut”, that supplement the transcript of the user
    • Faculty versus employee initiated
    • It must contain ribbons, school or department naming

    The research:

    • Interview different departments and schools requesting the badges. Explored current badge program and badge designs
    • badges can be display in certain social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, that being said anyone can copy a badge and use anywhere they want.
    • Badges can be public or private: It is up to a user to make them public or private

    Solution:

    • Two different styles of badges: academic and non-academic
    • Badges should not look the same, this is very important to them and will help distinguish each badge, if all badges are the same than there is no incentive to get more. It is nice to have a backpack full of different badges, just like girls scouts.
    • it is the Pokémon idea, they are all the same, but one has a big wing and the other squirts water, it is the gamification, otherwise why not just make smiling stickers.
    • Also, for IT, it is important to have some differences between the levels, as their manager will only be looking at the latest badge their trainees have, so they know what will be the next steps that their trainee needs to take, or what level of help desk they can give support. The differentiation is very important.
    • Create badges with levels, making it unique to the University of Washington.
    • Create a design approach that makes the badges fun and not boring
    • The badges are similar in style and look, however they fit different business purposes.
    • ⁃ certificate should look like an university one, the issuer should be the university not an individual
    • ⁃ A design that incorporates UW Brand
    • ⁃ flexibility achieved by using a variation of the brand colors for future growth
    • ⁃ practical for reproduction
    • ⁃ All badges can be independent, but it is not unique
    • ⁃ Choices for the design process and reasons why?
    • ⁃ the institutional image does not belong to the faculty or students, a formal program going out of the institution and it is the brand. It represents the institutions and the branding does not belong to the faculty.
    • ⁃ the brand is flexible and not at the same time.

    All badges can be independent, but it is not unique

    The challenge:

    • If all badges look the same, there is no incentive to get new ones.
    • Only allowed to use the university colors
    • Constrained by shapes: round, square, oval, diamond
    • Represent levels of accomplishments
    • fACULTY IS ALREADY DOING IT
    • ⁃ Learning about how the badges will be used and goals of it
    • ⁃ researching other schools and their designs, analyzing the things that worked and did not work
    • ⁃ Coming up with a solution that would be on brand and encompass all needs of the clients while at the same time embracing the fun aspect of it.
    • ⁃ Listening to all stakeholders and the different things that the badge had to represent
    • ⁃ Academic and non academic/ aspects of it
    • ⁃ future growth
    • ⁃ Technically i had to think about the limitations, such as the school names fitting on it or using abbreviation versus non abbreviation, how small the logo can be displayed or how legible the badges would be.
    • ⁃ Shapes that best fits all information
    • ⁃ different levels, ways to represent it

    If all badges look the same, there is no incentive to get new ones.

    Next steps

    • ⁃ work with maker space to come up with the next set of badges – reach to academic group sand clubs and possibly to admissions process and orientation.