Role:
Every day, five million commuters navigate London’s bus network, often relying on data-heavy, utilitarian 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 this clutter, transforming a mundane task into something fast, intuitive, and even delightful.
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, I designed dynamic blocks that scale as an arrival becomes imminent. As buses depart, the list reorders, mirroring the physical movement of the network to make the app feel alive.
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 reduce cognitive load, 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 card dynamically updates to show arrival times for that route, keeping the interface clean and the user's intent front and centre.
Knowing that time is a commuter's most precious commodity, the entire UI was rebuilt to ensure that a user could reach their core arrival times in just a single tap.
The branding needed to feel quintessentially London. I moved away from generic map pins and instead focused on the city’s most recognisable icon: the New Routemaster bus.
Each version is themed alphabetically by London neighbourhood (v1.0 Aldgate, v2.0 Brixton, etc.), 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.
The Guardian
“One of the slickest bus apps: a fast, well-designed way to check nearby stops and set alerts so you never miss a bus.”
Design Week
“Uses an ‘almost game-like interface’ allowing users to track progress in real-time, view routes, and set alerts.”
TNW
“Slick, real-time bus-tracker for London-dwellers.”
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
