Partner

Warner Bros.

Timeline

2.5 months

Responsibilities

Strategy, User Research, Interaction, Visual Design, Prototyping and Testing, Management

Role

Product Designer

DC FanDome Interactive Scheduler and Website

Overview

In the wake of expo cancellations during the early days of COVID-19 lockdowns, Warner Bros. Entertainment was in need of an online platform capable of hosting hundreds of multimedia content to millions of people for a then-unknown project. After presenting them with robust technology and intuitive designs, plans quickly went into motion.

On August 22 and September 12, 2020, DC FanDome debuted to the world. Fans and global audiences were able to log in freely without any usage of badge tags or financial purchasing, and see new announcements and trailers for a variety of upcoming DC films, TV series, comics, and games.

Challenges

Create a robust yet low-maintenance experience that supports the main event, but can also service multicultural needs, fan-led activities, and user-generated content.

Approach

Generate hype not only for the event but Warner Bros.’ IPs as a whole by drip-feeding information via the interactive scheduler. Build upon an out-of-the-box web experience that allows users to create their schedule without login. Direct the experience back to fans with self-owned contests.

Key Takeaways

A shift in global business strategies presented a unique opportunity rather than a hindrance.

  • BRANDING: Warner Bros. Entertainment and DC Comics

    STRATEGY: Zac Cooner, Taryn Vitale, Micah Green, Rei Augustine

    ART DIRECTION and DESIGN: Rei Augustine

    TECHNOLOGY DIRECTION: Taryn Vitale

    LEAD DEVELOPMENT: Taryn Vitale and Zac Cooner

    DEVELOPMENT: Shea Close, Braulio Lomeli, Darius Tall

    QA ENGINEERING: Karlo Martinez, Reshmi Ranjith

    CONTENT MANAGEMENT: Toree Hartman

The process

Although not nearly as large of a task as the livestream event itself handled on Warner Bros./DC Comics’ side, all hands were on deck at Eventology to collaborate and ship the product on time. Because WB/DC were trying to capture the summer conventions market amid the reality of stay-at-home lifestyle shifts, work needed to start swiftly and cohesively.

Design workshops happened alongside executive meetings which led to completely Agile sprints over a 2.5 month period.

Scoping the work

The CTO and Director of Technology would spec the necessary requirements as they came in from WB, which I would then workshop into actionable design (usually starting from out-of-the-box features). Right away it was clear what they needed:

  • A visual representation of the livestream event that could generate hype and FOMO in the form of an interactive schedule;

  • The ability to share user-generated content via contests with complete voting features;

  • A central hub accessible on web and mobile for the schedule and contests;

  • No barriers to entry.

Designs

The key to this project was merging WB/DC’s unique requests with our already tried-and-true prepackaged features.

Results and key takeaways

A shift in global business strategies presented a unique opportunity rather than a hindrance. The interactive schedule and contests saw high engagement on the platform as well as across all social media, and played a vital role in the overall success of DC FanDome.

This free immersive virtual experience drew in over 22 million people in 220 countries, more than what would’ve been possible in-person. DC FanDome trended on Twitter in 53 markets, and on YouTube in 82 markets.