Adult Swim Interactive Video Commentary

Services

Concepting
Development
IA/UX

Platform

Technology

Flash

Challenge

Adult Swim has developed strong, innovative content that have created cult-like fan bases. Beyond supplying ondemand viewing, Adult Swim wanted to take advantage of the online medium itself and provide users with an experience that matched their desire to consume.

Solution

Dreamsocket decided to take a DVD style experience to the web with a twist. Instead of separating the consumption of video (show) and related content (images, audio, video, or written articles), the two were merged into a cohesive, linear experience. To achieve this, the related content was time coded to the video, keeping the show as the contextual driver/story teller at all times. As users watch a show, they are given subtle alerts for the associated content. They have the option to ignore these cues or use them to jump directly to that content. When shifting to relateds, the application physically shifts panes around to orient the user. By doing this, it is able to provide focus on the related content, while always maintaining the show in visual sight for reference.

In addition to the alert based navigation, all relateds are listed in a menu. Clicking a menu item opens the related content and syncs the show which maintains context. Users are never driven completely away from the story and can easily reference or consume it. Having an interwoven way to enter into content lets users consume the show in whatever fashion they want.

Since the application is completely dynamic, it can and has been applied to several shows.