Responsive Design · Mobile · Innovation
The Walt Disney
Company
Meeting one of the most beloved companies on earth on every screen its audience carried — without ever diluting the magic.
Client
The Walt Disney Company
Role
Digital Creative Lead, Responsive Design & Innovation
Year
2010-2013
Discipline
Responsive · Mobile · AR · Innovation
For three years I helped one of the most beloved companies on earth meet its audience on every screen they carried— across Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN, ABC, and the Disney Parks.
The Challenge
Disney’s digital storefronts were built for a single screen at a moment when audiences were scattering across phones, tablets, and desktops. The company needed to reach guests everywhere without diluting the magic that defined every brand under its roof.
The Approach
I led the shift to responsive design across the Disney portfolio, rebuilding commerce and storytelling experiences so a single, consistent brand carried gracefully from a phone in a theme-park queue to a living-room television.
The Outcome
Online commerce grew from roughly $2B to $5B, mobile became the fastest-growing channel, and the work earned nine industry awards for design and innovation.
One magic, every screen
Disney’s storefronts were built for a single screen just as audiences scattered across phones, tablets, and desktops. I led the shift to responsive design across the portfolio — rebuilding commerce and storytelling so a single, consistent brand carried gracefully from a phone in a theme-park queue to the television in a living room.
Finding your way in the park
A wayfinding “finder” helped guests locate attractions, dining, and characters in real time — the digital experience following them right into the park itself.
The magic beyond the parks
From the shores of Aulani in Hawai’i to the connected WiFi experience inside every Disney Resort, the same responsive craft carried into lifestyle and hospitality — immersive imagery, effortless planning, and a magical digital layer at every touch.
Aulani Resort & Spa
A magical digital experience at every Disney Resort
Disneyland Holidays
Wearing the magic on your wrist
“The magic could not depend on the size of the glass it arrived on. It had to survive the phone in your pocket as fully as the screen on your wall.”
The MagicBand tied the digital experience to a physical wearable — a park entry, a hotel key, a wallet, and a personalization engine on the guest’s wrist. The connected experience it unlocked drove more than a billion dollars in downstream revenue.
Read the WIRED feature on the MagicBand
Pokémon Go, six years early
The Hidden Mickey Mobile Hunt turned the park itself into a game board. Using augmented reality, guests followed characters like Russell from Up through the park, discovered hidden Mickeys, earned badges, and collected rewards — a location-based AR experience years before it became mainstream.
Inside the app
Following Russell through the park — the real world and the magic, rendered on the same screen.
The Outcome
$2B → $5B
online commerce growth
#1
fastest-growing channel: mobile
9
awards for design & innovation
Online commerce grew from roughly two billion to five billion dollars, mobile became the fastest-growing channel, and the work earned nine industry awards — but the deeper win was a company that could carry its magic onto any screen its audience picked up.