McDonald's Happymeal.com
As long as kids like small toys, McDonald's will continue to dominate. If my children are any indication, McToys somehow strike a note that Burger King and Wendy's don’t. The presentation of the meal in the signature Happy Meal box is another key competitive advantage, and the customizable interface ability in BDAs starts to make an interactive offering come alive for kids and parents.
But on the web, Hapymeal.com is confined in the browser like an overstuffed back closet. So loaded with games and activities, yet unusable as an interface, kids are quickly frustrated with the difficulty in navigating the site (especially if they can't read yet). So they play some games and leave, never to return.
By eliminating digital design restraints on the desktop, kids can use an interface they're already intimately familiar with: the Happy Meal box. Children pour over these boxes in a way no Burger King or Wendy's bag gets attention.
Knowing this, McDonald's can and should create a desktop application using 3-D tools to literally put the box on the desktop and allow users to manipulate the interface as they would the actual object. The four sections on the website could easily translate to the four sides of the box. A look inside the McBox reveals the food choices and nutritional information.
Don't forget about the bottom of the box, which contains the secret answer to next month's happy meal themes. On the website (though it has mysteriously vanished of late) is a downloadable PDF of the McDonald's Happy Meal calendar. On the desktop, children could spin the box to reveal the bottom and next month's toy.
While the design possibilities for McDonald's are certainly more usable for this audience than web convention, it's only the start to unleashing the real power under the hood: instantaneous communication and alerts.
With instant alerts, McDonalds could let user know the moment their local restaurant has the new toys in. Or when there's a new game to play. Or when someone has beaten his or her high score on a game. All of a sudden, you've taken an unusable site and made it a must-have on the desktop.
Yes, brand managers. I do know what you'll ask next. Seamless BDA versioning means you can change any aspect of the desktop design at any time with interrupting the user experience. So when Shrek gives way to July's promotion, the assets can be easily swapped-out to drive the new campaign.
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