Every day, five million people commute on London’s bus network, often relying on utilitarian, data-heavy apps. With Jump, a project we designed and shipped from the ground up, the challenge was to leverage TfL’s Open API to strip away the noise and transform a mundane task into a fast, intuitive, and even delightfully playful experience.
Team:
Concept 1
I experimented with circular progress bars to represent bus arrivals but discarded this because it added unnecessary cognitive load; users had to decode the circles rather than just reading the time.
Concept 2
I explored showing only the single most immediate arrival, however, I soon realised commuters need a broader window (up to 30 minutes) to decide whether to leave the office or finish a coffee.
Concept 3
I also had the idea of searching for buses nearby or by a specific location, but felt users needed to get their bearings on a map first. Once a bus stop was selected, I focused on surfacing all arrivals on a single screen.
Inspired by vintage ticker boards, we designed dynamic blocks that scale as a bus arrival is due. As buses depart, the list reorders to mirror the physical movement of the network, make the app feel (a)live.
Despite the progress, the initial designs felt too convoluted. I realised that to truly honour the laser-focus objective, I needed to remove as much friction as possible. I decided to start again, shifting my focus toward gestural navigation and dynamic information surfacing to reduce the tap count and surface relevant data instantly.
I moved away from fixed screens in favour of a gesture-based card system. This allowed for a more fluid way to display or dismiss information without losing the map’s context.
To prioritise clarity, I shifted the focus to a single bus at a time rather than overwhelming the user with a full list. By tapping specific bus numbers, the timeline blocks dynamically update to visually represent arrival times for that route.
Knowing that time is precious, the entire UI was redesigned to ensure you could reach your core arrival times in just a single tap.
The branding needed to feel quintessentially London. Stripping away generic transport iconography, I focused on the city’s most recognisable icon: the New Routemaster bus.
Each major release is themed alphabetically by London neighbourhood, from v1.0 Aldgate to v2.0 Brixton and so on, creating a localised connection with the people using the app.
Success for Jump wasn’t just about downloads, it was about proving that a less is more approach could work for a complex task like London transit. By leaning into a playful, gesture-driven interface, we transformed a basic utility into a satisfying, tactile experience.
“One of the slickest bus apps: a fast, well-designed way to check nearby stops and set alerts so you never miss a bus.”
The Guardian
“Uses an ‘almost game-like interface’ allowing users to track progress in real-time, view routes, and set alerts.”
Design Week
“Slick, real-time bus-tracker for London-dwellers.”
TNW
BIMA Awards
UX & Service Design
The Lovie Awards
Best User Experience
The Lovie Awards
Best User Interface
New York Festivals
Mobile UI Design
Webby Awards
City & Urban Innovation
Appsters Awards
Best use of API
FWA
Mobile Of The Day Winner
