Overview
The University of Washington Bothell engages students in transformational learning experiences that challenge their expectations, broaden their horizons, and stimulate their ambitions.
The University of Washington department of Information Technology, the School of STEM and the North Creek Wetlands, partnered to offer students a way to credit both their academic and non-academic accomplishments.
Goal
Create badges that offer a level of practicality to them while at the same time being able to fit different business purposes.
The badges should be ways for students, employees and volunteers to show their accomplishments and participation at the University of Washington. A way to motivate them to finish training, participate in activities and earn credentials.
Requirements
- Created a series of badges templates that appeals for both academic and non-academic departments
- Incorporate UW Brand
- Offer levels, making it unique to UW Bothell
- A design approach that makes the badges fun and rewarding
My role
I was the sole designer for this project.
Process
Requirements gathering, stakeholder interview, presentations, research, low fidelity, hight fidelity and implementation with Credly.
Findings & challenges
- Differentiation between levels
- Practical for reproduction within the different departments and level of expertise with design
- Badges should work independently, but not so uniquely
- Similar in style and look, however fitting different business purposes.
- University brand colors only
- Represent levels of accomplishments
- Constrained by shapes: round, square, oval, diamond
- Avoid the use of abbreviation
Solution
A little like the Pokemon game, where the characters are somewhere similar in design, but very different in shapes and colors, the badges created have a similar shape, look and feel, but are easily distinguishable from each other based on icons, copy and color.
The badges design can easily represent the many areas of learning and can be modified to purple to support academic badges.
The templates are easy to update by anyone, even without a design background.
Herbarium digital badges
To keep track and also celebrate contributions of volunteers, seven digital badges are offered for volunteers for time contributed or plant ID competency.
