The Navigatr Badge Framework offers a set of design templates that help organisations create clear, recognisable digital badges. By aligning badge types and modes with specific learning achievements, it saves time, keeps badges consistent, and makes skills easier to recognise. It is ideal for organisations beginning or refining their digital badging strategy.
Note: This is just an overview. For detailed information, see the full Navigatr Badge Framework on GitHub.
Key features of the framework
Badge Types: Different shapes represent various types of learning, such as informal, training, certification, qualification, and membership.
Mode: Five named modes (Explore, Deepen, Apply, Teach, and Lead) show the level of effort and engagement with a skill, from first exploring a subject to leading others. Each mode has its own visual treatment.
Colour and logo: The mode also drives how a badge is coloured. Apply and Teach badges can be recoloured to match your brand, while Teach and Lead badges use a plain white logo on a dark background.
Fixed Elements: Each badge includes essential details like the issuer’s logo, badge title, and type/mode indicators.
Types
Every badge has a type and a mode. The type sets the badge’s shape, while the mode sets its colour. Together they make each badge recognisable at a glance.
There are five badge types, each with its own shape:
Informal: Self-directed or structured learning with no formal recognition.
Training: Structured learning in a specific skill or subject, usually recognised with a provider certificate.
Certified: Formal learning for subject mastery, validated by a certification from an external body.
Qualification: A structured programme of study, validated by a degree or professional title from an accredited institution.
Membership: Learning through active participation in an association, group, or community.
Modes
Each badge is set to one of five modes. The mode reflects how far someone has engaged with a skill, from first exploring it through to leading others. In the badge builder you choose the mode using named buttons, and each mode gives the badge its own visual treatment.
Explore: The starting point, for first encountering a subject.
Deepen: Building a fuller understanding of the skill.
Apply: Putting the skill into practice.
Teach: Sharing the skill with others.
Lead: The most advanced mode, for leading and setting direction in the skill.
Licensing and imported badges
Licensing and attribution: The framework templates are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Proper attribution is required when using the framework outside of Navigatr.
Imported badges: Badges you import from other platforms (Credly, Accredible, Moodle, and others) keep the design of the platform that issued them and appear with an Imported chip. The Navigatr Badge Framework applies to badges issued by Navigatr providers. See Open Badges Explained for how imports work.
Tip: If you have further questions, contact our team at [email protected].