Handy Manny

Disney

Would you like to come to a fiesta party!

Genre: Children's Website
Released: 2009

Play games, enter competitions and print your favourite Disney characters.

As part of the Playhouse Disney channel, the Handy Manny show features the adventures of Manny Garcia, a bilingual Hispanic handyman and his talking tools. It teaches young children some basic Spanish phrases and the importance of cultural diversity. Over the summer, Handy Manny and the Tools hosted a fiesta party! Disney asked 4T2 to create an online initiative to support the campaign. We delivered an interactive homepage with games and activities as the centrepiece. The fiesta took place over several weeks, so a key feature was time-released content. Each week a new level and activity became available. Players were informed of show times and when to come back for more, increasing repeat visits and brand immersion. Although the levels became harder, the player could never fail to complete them, guaranteeing all young visitors had a positive experience. A button bashing bonus game was also included, with its own printable rewards. Each week a new Disney character was also introduced to the party. Several important points were taken into consideration when targeting an audience as low as two years old. The site included over 50 scripted audio clips to describe user actions and in-game activities, removing the need to read any text. Care was taken with the user interface to ensure children could easily identify the large, colourful buttons and icons. Also, the game did not include any scrolling, hidden areas or depth perception. This ensured it was suitable for the limited spatial abilities of children in this age range.

THE CHALLENGE

  • Target audience of 2-6 year old children
  • Simple to play and navigate
  • Six week campaign

THE SOLUTION

  • Extensive use of vocal audio for instructions
  • Large and clearly defined buttons
  • Time released content