united future a wongdoody agency

grab it

United Future worked with ABC.com to develop a series of widgets to provide preferred ABC show content “in a box.” But to get it approved by senior ABC and Disney management and built in time, we had to think out of the box.

ABC’s Digital group needed to sell the widget concept (named “ABC in a box”) to senior ABC and Disney thought-leaders including Bob Iger. They needed a polished presentation showing working prototypes; and they needed it quickly. The project goal was to get the overall concept signed off and implemented in time for upcoming season premieres.

ABC.com wanted to create – from scratch – a platform that branded and expanded all ABC shows within a simple “widgetized” experience. They needed a multi-function widget that could be grabbed and shared across multiple social-networking sites and personal blogs.

These widgets were required to be fully customizable and implementable quickly and efficiently using a standard XML instantiation file.

We created After Effects “canned” prototypes of these widgets in action – showing full functionality and detailed use-case click-paths. The presentation was a huge success; we were able to get full sign-off and then build a sophisticated platform that enabled ABC to customize these widgets for each of their shows.

These widgets, which are featured on the majority of show pages on ABC.com, include a video player, a podcast, a photo gallery, trivia, a newsfeed, contestant info (on Dancing With The Stars), a game (on DUEL), and a playlist (on Bachelorette).

Oscar widget exceeded expectations by double-digits (in the amount of downloads and shares)

LOST widget reached one million views and thousands of downloads and shares

Opened doors for further exploration of the "ABC in a box" concept that culminated in the development of an experiential "chat" application that was presented at AFI's Digifest 2009.