DoDD: UX in Japan!

TL;DR

I wanted to take a break from the regular format & share some of the interesting UX finds from my Japan trip this past December. 🙂

Quick Intro

I thought it’d be cool to switch it up since I have a bunch of pics from Tokyo and Misawa. I think we could all use a little bit of a break from regular shit with everything that’s going on in the world and in the country right now. I know I could use one. So, here we go.

The Plane

It all started with my flight and this cup holder (which I’ve already posted about) that I adored. And of course, the food was on point.

Image of the cup holder that created more space, making my airplane tray table easier to use.

Image of one of the meals served on my flight to Tokyo. It was shrimp curry with some tasty sides!

There were games on the plane...yay! Look at this controller...boo! 👎🏾 Handling the joystick and the ABXY buttons were fine but I would much rather go to sleep than have to try and use that keyboard. 🤢 Definitely giving me Blackberry vibes and I was never for those, they’ve always been dead to me. The buttons are just too close and too small.

Image of me holding a remote/game controller for the my screen on the plane.

Landed safely, and the fun began! 

Image of a big “Welcome to Tokyo 2020” sign seen after getting through customs.

The Trains

We took the train (a number of trains, actually) to get around and I was pleasantly surprised by how many things I’d seen and understood without needing to read/know Japanese. On the train we took from the airport, there was a sign that was super clear and to the point in its instruction for luggage storage. Dope. 

Image of a place where luggage can be stored on the train.

Close up image of the sign giving guidance on correct luggage storage when using the storage area on the train.

The subway system, in general, was slightly intimidating to me...but I tend to get intimidated with nearly all train systems lol. The intimidation mainly stems from there being lots of people walking around (more often than not) and me feeling like I’m not able to take my time and figure things out. I thought the signs were pretty clear though...it was just a matter of actually knowing where I needed to go. Luckily, my brother (who we were visiting) had it handled, so I didn’t need to put in any effort, haha.

Picture of a sign on the floor at a train stop directing people to a specific line and transfer area in multiple languages.

Picture of a sign on a wall and hanging from the ceiling directing people to different train lines at a train stop, both in multiple languages.

Picture of me standing next to a train stop sign showing the train departure information in Japanese and English.

The Hotels

There’s no denying that Japan is a country of efficiency...at the very least, that’s how I felt about Tokyo—especially after walking into our hotel room. 

Picture of the small hotel room described in the blog post containing a bed, desk, and dresser.

This was definitely the smallest hotel room I’ve ever been in. There was enough space to walk through the room and to sit at the desk. The rest of the space was dedicated to the essentials. Same thing with the bathroom, although the tub was a decent size. 

Picture of the small bathroom described in the blog post containing a toilet (with heated a heated seat!), sink, and bathtub in addition to toiletries.

And let’s talk about this room lighting control located right next to the bed that I never knew I needed! I could literally turn on/off any light in the room without having to get up. It truly is the little things.

Image of lighting control panel from a hotel room located near the bed.

Image of another lighting control panel combined with a radio on a nightstand near the bed in a different hotel room.

This hotel elevator button setup (pictured below) was extremely easy to understand. There are several elevators that exist in the world with terrible UX; however, this was not one of them. 😊 (I see Japan skips the 13th floor as well…at least in this location).

Image of the elevator buttons with clear labels for the first four floors.

Below is another sign located in a different elevator. I’d seen signs like this on some train doors as well. None of them were in English but it was pretty clear to me what was being communicated.

Picture of a sign in Japanese with a cartoon showing a face in pain and a hand seemingly injured and stuck in between sliding panels.

The Bathrooms

Let’s get into these bathrooms!

If you don’t know already, I’m obsessed with public restroom experience. I have tons of random pics of different bathrooms from around the U.S. (I guess around the world now) because I simply can’t help myself from documenting what I see. In a nutshell, I really enjoyed my bathroom experiences in Japan (and in Korea) and I’m excited to share. 

Picture of a clean stall containing a toilet, trash bin, and an assisting metal bar.

This was the stall in the airport in Tokyo (pictured above). Definitely one of the cleanest bathrooms I’ve used. Signs were clear. Multiple languages present. They even had toilet seat cleaner right in the stall. I’m a “squat or die” person when it comes to using public bathrooms though, so that wasn’t going to be an option for me but I was still glad to have it. 

Picture of a dispenser with a sign titled “Toilet Seat Cleaner” above it, containing 3 main directions on how to use it in multiple languages.

I also cannot stress enough how much I want a toilet with a heated seat & bidet now. Once I can get one, these basic ass standard toilets will be kicking rocks. I thought the main icons for the bidets (pictured below) were pretty clear but I did appreciate when there were actual instructions as well. Some stalls had a nice, big button was perfect for “elbow flushing” and I loved it, because who’s pressing this with their actual hands? Not me. 

Pictured here [left to right], is an audio panel of some sort (with only Japanese writing), a bidet control panel with different colored buttons (with icons) for different functions and an operations sign with instructions on how to use the bidet panel in multiple languages above the panel, and lastly, another panel containing a large “flush” button, with directional content in different languages.

Picture of a different bidet panel (all white) with buttons, icons, and only Japanese writing.

It was really nice to have an option to flush with a wave too! In this bathroom pictured below, there wasn’t any touching required. Much appreciated.

Picture of a sign above a toilet that reads “Touchless sensor” in multiple languages, along with an illustration of a hand hovering over a device.

I was super thrilled by the infant holders in the stalls and the little toddler urinals outside. This says to me that this is a place where women are, at the very least, considered a little bit more. I couldn’t confirm if these amenities were available in the men’s rooms (as often as the women’s) too but what a way to care about parents! I’m not one; however, I know this would be super helpful to me if I was. Pretty dope.

The Food & Drink

This post wouldn’t be complete without food. I was eating good. I cannot wait to go back. Many of the places that we dined in in Misawa (a more rural area in Japan) had sections where customers could dine at a table or, more traditionally, on the floor—which I thought was very cool. I didn’t snap a picture of that, unfortunately, but I did capture TONS of delicious ramen and curry. 

I was absolutely fascinated by the vending machines that were basically everywhere, even in places that were seemingly in the middle of nowhere up north in rural Misawa! I LOVED trying different drinks. 

Picture of a vending machine found at a train station.

Picture of a vending machine found at a store.

I thought it was so cool that you could get either hot or cold beverages from one place and the icons that denoted whether the drink would be served hot or cold was super clear.

Image of beverages with an icon that looks like a flame (with a red background) beneath each drink. These are hot beverages.

Image of beverages with an icon that looks like a snowflake (with a blue background) beneath each drink. These are cold beverages.

I never thought I’d be able to get hot tea from a vending machine in a bottle. But my favorite thing to get nearly everywhere I went during the trip was the hot chocolate. ☺️

Image of me holding a bottle of hot tea.

Image of me holding a can of hot cocoa.

The content on the bottles was what I would consider a UX nightmare, though! I do not know how to read Japanese, so there is a good chance that my perspective is way off.

I think learning about what “good UX” is in different locations and cultures would be really interesting and is something I’d love to do. My dream would be to be like the Anthony Bourdain of UX. I also have no clue if there are enough perspectives to actually keep that going 😅 but it could be something to look into.

Image of the label of my hot tea beverage.

Special shoutout to the Google Translate App. Figuring out how to work the air purifier in my hotel room and what some different foods were in the grocery store would’ve been impossible without it.

Image of the Google Translator App actively translating Japanese characters to English words.

This menu below gave me Waffle House vibes. They both stress me out (too much content) but I do appreciate the food pictures.

Image of a restaurant menu with several meals’ information along with pictures of each meal.

Finally got the sushi on a conveyor belt experience and I’m happy it happened here! Our robot greeted us and checked us in at the door, then I ate until my heart’s content.

Image of the robot and my brother making selections on the robot’s interface to check us in.

Image of the sushi menu along with plates of sushi on a conveyor belt.

Image of me eating sushi with multiple plates in front of me.

I also got to go to Tokyo Disneyland with my brother, which was so much fun! They had soy sauce-flavored popcorn...I was not a fan; however, I ate tons of the caramel flavor.

Picture of me standing with popcorn in front of the Tokyo Disneyland castle.

I will probably be craving this Melon Fanta like a mad person for the rest of my life. It was extremely addictive, so I’m sure the sugar content was out of this world. Until we meet again 🥺…

Picture of a cup of the green Melon Fanta on a table with a parked Japan Airlines plane in the background.

. . .

There are tons of other pictures but I’ll wrap it up here. Whenever it’s safe to freely travel the world again, I’d definitely recommend going to Japan—you might catch me there again!

Picture of me posing in a very bright and fun arcade in Tokyo.