Yesterday, the TTC unveiled the beta of their new website, exciting web junkies and transit aficionados all around Toronto.
The new design and functionality comes after a long series of consultations with the city’s web community, and promises to make information about transit services not only more accessible to residents, but also to position the TTC as a forward-thinking and rider-friendly transportation service.
According to the TTC, there are a ton of features planned for the near future including a trip planner, service updates by SMS, and online Metropass purchase options.
The site is still currently in beta, so there are obviously a few bugs (and lack of content) to be worked out, so don’t expect any harsh criticisms just yet. Instead, I wanted to congratulate the TTC for considering a key interface element that is extremely obvious but often ignored.
Give the people what they want
When I go to the Canada Post website, I want to know one thing: how much does it cost to mail my letter? (That information is easily available in one click.) When I go to the Toronto Public Library website, I want to know one thing: when is my local branch open and when does it close? (Getting that information requires multiple clicks in a very non-intuitive interface.)
Similarly, when people go to the TTC website, they have certain questions in mind, the most notable of them being:
- How do I get to my destination?
- How much will it cost me?
- Am I going to run into any trouble?
By putting fare information, service disruptions, and the trip planner on the front page of the new site, the TTC is giving people what they want immediately.
In a world where traffic numbers and web stats reign supreme, it’s comforting to know that the TTC cares more about serving their ridership than pleasing their marketing teams.
Kudos to Adam Giambrone and his team for making this happen. Looking forward to the official launch soon.
While I agree there should be a focus to 1: standards 2: accessibility, I feel this new site was taken far too seriously in those regards.
Sure, all the relevant information is presented on the site, but with its lackluster style sheet ( fraught w/ errors ) there is really no definitive calls to action, or anything to direct you from one element to another.
I know going to the ttc site shouldn’t be comparable to a visit to anything possibly entertainment related, but is shouldn’t feel like the internal DOS based application of a midas brake locale chain either.
I think, sadly, some of the “local accessibility experts” have pushed the site’s designers and overseers into a corner, where in order to meet only their goals, any sense of personality it might have had, is woefully vacant.
Oh, and if anyone at the TTC needs a “vector” version recreated of their logo, they can give me a call. Seems there is a gif scanned off a business card in 1998 making the rounds on all things TTC web-related.
Do you think that what they came up with is worth the $400k pricetag?
According to Adam Giambrone - “the entire project — including all the features, technology, consultation and expertise that when into the redesign — cost about $8-million, with the site itself consuming about $400,000 of that amount.”
What does he think a Website redesign is? Features, technology, consultation, expertise. This is an $8 million Website redesign.
I’m really at a loss for words on how bad this site is given the pricetag. I couldn’t even take the TTC Website Survey. It’s broken.
Brian
Great thoughts guys. I’m still withholding any serious criticism until there’s still more meat built into this beta. As someone who works with content and information, the site is quite bare right now. I’m going to give them a few weeks (benefit of the doubt) and let them work on the content before I skewer them.
That being said, both $400K and $8mil sound steep to me. Scary to think that some smaller, reputable firms could probably do it all on a much much smaller budget.
Oh, and Alistair, I completely agree about the low-quality logo. I see it everywhere…do they seriously not have a good high-quality vector image?
“so don’t expect any harsh criticisms just yet”
Don’t keep us waiting! When will we get to see your harsh criticisms?
Haha! Maybe end of month James. I’m too busy being excited about the new iPhone to be negative.
Hey, that’s great! I hope you get to use your new iPhone on the TTC someday soon!