Comcast wanted to be a leader in the online video space and wanted to start a user-generated video site (similar to Youtube) but with a twist: It would revolve around cable and broadcast entertainment and all videos would be entries into contests to win big prizes. Some of the videos submitted were also show on Ziddio’s own on-demand channel on Comcast.

I was asked to be the lead UX person on the new site AFTER it was initially conceived, designed and built by an outside agency. I came in, asked some hard questions, and started turning the site into a true social media site. We added video sharing tools, polls, user profiles, badges, artist spotlights and more. We even helped launch a restaurant in New York’s Times Square, called Spotlight, where guests were recorded singing songs that were broadcast live on Ziddio and on a huge screen outside the restaurant.

Over the next year, the site’s user base grew to over 100,000 registered users, but by 2007, Youtube and several other online video sharing sites had emerged, several offering advanced contest tools, and Comcast decided to no longer compete in the space.

Ziddio was one of my favorite experiences in my career.