[img_assist|nid=26113|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=147|height=150]The TfL (Transport for London) site sees 8m unique users a month. 75 per cent of Londoners use the site to plan journeys in the capital. A quarter of that number are on its mobile-optimised site, launched in 2008, and thats not counting the significant number of mobile users who are accessing the full desktop site on their device.
So you can probably why TfL has decided its time for a mobile-first redesign of its site.
“We been working to put customers at the heart of our business,” says Phil Young, TfLs head of online. “That strategy is driving a lot of what were working on. Customers want personalised, localised services and, at present, we cant provide them.
“But if there was a single reason to change, it would be to better suit mobile devices.”
Going responsive
The new TfL site will be launching in beta next week, building to a full switchover in late summer. Its been created using responsive design – meaning that the sites content squashes smoothly to fit the size and shape of the screen.
“Its one of the most extensive implementations of responsive design youll find anywhere,” says Young – and having spent some time with the site, Id tend to agree. The conventional widsom on responsive design is that its fine for sites with fairly limited or static content, but that it struggles with anything more dynamic. 
With the focus firmly on the journey planner functionality – it accounts for around half of the sites usage, were told – the redesigned TfL site goes a long way to disproving that theory. I saw the site in action on three devices – a Mac, iPhone 5, and Samsung Tab – and on all three, the planner was impressively intuitive, wide-ranging and flexible.
[img_assist|nid=26114|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=132|height=150]Better, faster, stronger
Speaking as a London commuter, and one who has drifted away from using TfLs site in favour of Google Maps directions function, the new site looks destined for my mobiles bookmarks. It helps that its integrating Google Maps – rather than the five separate mapping platforms it was using previously – but the range of functions actually rivals Googles own service.
Once the full site is up and running, users will be able to compare cycling and walking directions to see if it would be faster to get to their destination themselves; check nearby stations, bus stops and Barclays bike racks in a map view, showing departures or how many bikes are left; mark stations as favourites to see live updates on the homepage; replan their journey on the fly from their current location; access recent journeys… the list is fairly comprehensive.
The redesign process – which has involved a lot of prototyping and focus group testing, based on what I saw – has no doubt been expensive for TfL. To offset that, the new site also features an expanded offering for advertisers. The main page is built around a large hero image, which will be used for announcements, but is also available to commercial partners – prime real estate on such a frequently used site.
Oh, and one last figure for you: TfL expects mobile usage of the site to surpass desktop within the next 12 months. Thats at least 4m mobile users a month. Its not hard to see why theyve invested so much effort in a mobile-first launch.
