How Darwinbox is Building an Ecosystem of Certified Professionals with Accredible

Building a Global Network of Specialists

“People first” is baked into every aspect of Darwinbox's culture — from the product to the people to the company’s future vision. But its in-person instructor-led training didn’t match that ethos.

As the company scaled, the team knew they needed to serve their audience differently. Its end-to-end certification journey via Darwinbox Academy had to complement learners’ desire for just-in-time learning with bite-sized, self-paced lessons. So, the company began creating suitable content and constructing the ideal learning tech stack, including a content hosting platform, an LMS, a knowledge center, and a ChangeMakers community platform.

But there was still something missing.

Chaitanya Deepak, Associate Director, Training & Development at Darwinbox, explains, “In learner interview after learner interview, I heard the same refrain, ‘What’s in it for me?’ I knew the value of a certification wasn’t coming across.”

Learners wanted to showcase their skills on social media, know that their skills were valued, and have a clear path to continue upskilling in ways that met market demand. Chaitanya knew a digital credentialing platform could solve these problems. He just had to choose the right one.

Finding The Whole Package

After a thorough evaluation of digital credential platforms, the best solution became apparent. 

Besides Accredible’s instantly-verifiable digital credentials and One-Click Sharing, two other significant features stood out.

Chaitanya explains, “The first thing that struck a chord with us was Accredible’s branding capabilities. We didn’t want to exist as part of another org — we wanted to establish our own presence, and Accredible would allow us to do that.”

Accredible’s digital wallet was another green flag. Other badging software requires learners to create accounts to access their credentials, adding online sharing friction and complexity if the associated email changes as a learner transitions to a new job. Accredible enables learners to consolidate credentials linked to various email IDs into one digital wallet to help communicate their complete learning history.

“We wanted to make the process of getting, sharing, and storing a certification seamless. Accredible’s digital wallet hit that prerequisite right on the nail, making it easy for our learners to access their badges.”

But it was Accredible’s service team that sealed the deal. They made a positive impression on Chaitanya from the get-go, and their relentless focus on customer-centricity remained constant throughout Darwinbox’s implementation and launch:

“Accredible perfectly marries the product competency we wanted and needed with accountability. When someone at Accredible makes a commitment, I now know it’ll be met. Everything is meticulously, methodically planned, and professional.”

Motivating Today’s Learners

Before Accredible, Darwinbox’s certification program was more top-down. As Chaitanya puts it, “It was ‘take this course because it’s good for you to know what’s in it.’” For the learner, this wasn’t particularly inspiring.

But Accredible’s digital badges — and the bragging rights that come with them — are sparking more demand for Darwinbox credentials. In the first four months after launch, Darwinbox increased its credential open rate by 46% and its share rate by 64%.

“In four months, our rate of issuing credentials has improved by 60%. Why? Because with Accredible, we’re able to show learners the value of a credential — they get mini bragging rights and can show employers they are qualified.”

Accredible’s social sharing establishes certified professionals as experts in their domain for the whole industry to see. Because of that, Darwinbox’s approach to learning feels less like a push and more like a pull, tapping into learners’ intrinsic motivation.

Guiding Learners in New Directions

One of Chaitanya’s goals going into the Accredible implementation was to make it crystal clear where a learner was in their product certification journey and where they had left to go.

After creating 12 modules, the team used Accredible Pathways to map out four separate certification paths, showing users (1) how the skills they learn in each module contribute to a broader competency and (2) what skills they have left to learn to earn a certification.

“It’s a very elegant birds-eye view for the end user. Learners can see the full set of available certifications, what modules correspond to each, and where they sit overall,” Chaitanya highlights. “The continuous enablement journey in Accredible is enabled beautifully compared to competitors we looked at in the discovery process.”

The best part? With Accredible, Darwinbox can track key metrics like learning pathway completions, dropoffs, and more to optimize program performance.

Elevating The Darwinbox Brand

Darwinbox is competing against legacy platforms that have built their distinct brand presence over the past 20 years. To compete, Darwinbox must differentiate itself as the premier solution in every way, from its product to its learning experience.

Accredible has made this challenging task possible in more ways than one, starting with re-branding and re-issuing Darwinbox’s 4,000 previously issued credentials. Because Accredible’s API docs were so thorough, it took the team and their LMS partner less than a week to complete the migration.

From there, Darwinbox set up auto-issued credentials, helping learners spread the word about their certifications faster. Beyond customizing certifications with the Darwinbox logo, they also used Accredible’s GIF functionality to make badges pop on each digital credential page — delighting learners and appealing to others viewing the shared credentials.

As more learners have shared these eye-catching credentials, Chaitanya has noticed more top employers listing Darwinbox certifications in their job descriptions. He sees this as a sign of increased brand awareness and industry recognition — clients and partners know about Darwinbox-endorsed professionals, trust those experts, and want to staff them on their teams.

Chaitanya points out, “We’re taking on competitors who’ve been in the market 20+ years. We were a strong contender before, but now Accredible has helped us build external evidence that our ecosystem is complete.”

Helping Learners Reach Their Full Potential

Though Darwinbox is on an impressive tear, the team is just getting started.

“The sky’s the limit, really,” Chaitanya emphasizes. “We have a 75% engagement rate, but I still want it to go up. Our goal is to be proactive in pushing engagement, spotting new trends, and helping users see how credentials will improve their employability.”

To that end, he and his team have embraced Accredible’s new Email Campaigns functionality, keeping learners engaged and educated about how else they can expand their knowledge of the Darwinbox platform.

They’re also looking to recognize its certified professionals via a Spotlight Directory, which will help connect them with future opportunities and enable employers to filter qualified candidates by geo and industry. “That will be the icing on the cake,” Chaitanya says.

To accomplish its goals, Darwinbox doesn’t need to add another platform to its tech stack — it has what it needs with Accredible. “Accredible isn’t a one-trick pony. It’s helping us build an end-to-end learning ecosystem that caters to our Darwinians, customers, and partners, helping them not only build their skills but build their careers.”