“Program and design from the mobile standpoint first, then extrapolate what could be applied for the PC, television and print experience.” – Michael Bayle, VP and general manager of ESPN Mobile

Apparently, for ESPN, mobile is now “the company’s fourth-largest network” and “has 150,000 people plugged into its mobile offerings at any given time” with “users spending 45% more time with ESPN mobile content in 2011 than the prior year,” according to this report in Media Post.

Those numbers are stunning — but not surprising (to me, at the very least). With more than 400 million smartphones expected to be sold, it makes perfect sense for sports to get the mobile bump. I mean, don’t we want the baseball gossip, score updates or results of the F1 race when on the go?

I have been a firm believer that when it comes to design these days, mobile comes first. That thinking was behind the redesign of my blog. Of course, I saw an increase in mobile visits and decided to go the full monty with my blog makeover. It is good to see that “mobile-first” thinking is spreading: Kayak and others are following the mobile-first approach.

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