Scott Cummings

This is one of the most exciting launches in my PBS KIDS tenure. After only a few months to design, test, user test, get assets and all of the million other things you need for a video player, it’s up and it’s awesome! The first month saw over 60 million streams and I’m sure it’s only going to go up.

The most unique aspect of the player is that it is hosted. This is quite a bit different than other video players out there for kids and really sets it apart. It was a big challenge to present such a large amount of content to preschoolers and parents on one page. Keeping things simple while surfacing all of the videos and information was a delicate balance that our designer did a killer job of.

• Launched December 2009
• Roles: Usability, Content, Fun

Speak Out is an online letter to the President from the users of PBS KIDS. The letter consists of submissions from kids that are voted on by users. The project was done in collaboration with the National Black Programmers Consortium’s New Media Institute. Check out the article about making Speak Out on the PBS Engage Blog.

• Role: Assistant Producer
• Launched: October 2008

Hooper is the lovable guinea pig in the preschool interstitials on PBS KIDS and this is his site. The site features online activities with Dash and Dot that are featured on air during the preschool shows and videos from the interstitials featuring Hooper and Steve Songs. The site also features some cool mini games that are the reward for playing Dash’s Secret Treasure on air.

Hooper was animated in small pieces of video by Bully! that trigger based on user action in a Flash masterpiece by our own Mal Jones.

• Roles: Content and Project Management
• Launched September 2007, Updated September 2008, 2009

This on air and online project was one of the coolest things I’ve worked on since coming to PBS. On air, kids are encouraged to dance along to songs sung by Dash that teach Spanish, rhythm, pitch and other subjects, and are directed to go online to keep dancing. Online, kids can make dances with one of four PBS KIDS preschool characters and play mini games to unlock new moves.

My online partner in crime Nina and I worked together to come up with the concept for this cross platform content and worked with Funny Garbage and the PBS Creative Services team to build it.

Details:

15 x 1 Minute Spots

Online Dance Game with mini game suite

September 2009