English Web Design: A Niche for Someone to Fill
It might be that my poor Japanese language skills are to blame, sending me on a futile trajectory into the world's most pointless English-language banking website, but I can't help feeling a little frustrated. I've just spent the last 15 minutes looking for some simple information on my bank's site. What's depressing is that the bank's Japanese-language version seems to have a lot more going on, and I'll be buggered if I can't find my 'Babel fish', which in "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" provides an instant translation of any language, when I need it.
Back in Australia, I can do everything over the Net: the catch is that personal service is often sacrificed - just ask anyone who has spent the last five minutes trying to get through to a real live person on the phone. In Japan, the service is usually outstanding, but the technology often undermines it. Any visitor to Japan will undoubtedly become frustrated with not being able to global roam with their own phone, or perhaps become a little perplexed at the sensational working conditions of Japanese ATMs that charge overtime rates outside business hours. If only the majority ofJapanese workers could procure the same working conditions as the humble ATM!
Can the world, in 2006, not find some way to bring together people and technology so that you can navigate the simple things yourself, while having helpful assistance readily available when the more difficult things cross your path?
My mother has been here visiting for a little over a week, and trying to get some yen from a credit card was a sharp learning curve for her: bring some cash with you to this cash-obsessed nation. Her brand new eyes on the things that I have become slowly accustomed to are highlighting the pitfalls in Japan's industries, including banking, retail outlets and information technology in particular. I had all but forgotten about Australia's 'eftpos' system, which gives you the equivalent of ATM access in any establishment, and as much as I complained about its Big Brother implications, I sorely miss it here.
This seems ridiculously at odds with the ease with which Japanese pay for train tickets. The Suica card system allows passengers to walk through the gates at either end of a journey and just wave the card across the turnstile. In fact, the whole train system itself is so marvellous I would like to see every country in the world have one just like it. City Rail, a publicly operated service in Sydney, is the epitome of apathy on one end and antipathy on the other, with its staff just as frustrated as the commuters. One day, after a particularly vexing journey, during which the trains scheduled stops were changed AFTER I got on (a common occurrence), my bleating complaints to a bunch of train drivers after alighting was met with a torrent of their own complaints. "PLEASE write to your local member,"they begged.
The irony, of course, is that every Sydney resident who chose to stay in the city during the 2000 Olympics got a taste of what an efficient train system can be: clean, safe and punctual. Alas, as soon as the curtains came down on the closing ceremony, Sydneysiders' fairytale romance with public transport was gone as quickly as a baby-kissing politician after an election: they dropped the bundle. I still chuckle when I see determined commuters getting pushed into a Tokyo peak-hour train by a white-gloved guard. In Australia they'd just say, "Sorry, mate, ya gotta wait for the next one...should be along in about 30 minutes."
In a vortex somewhere, a cunning person snuck off with a large portion of the world's common sense. I suspect that the first people they robbed were those at the head of government-run institutions in Australia, followed closely by those responsible for technology integration in Japan.
My mother's surprise at Japan's sometimes antiquated technology is possibly fuelled by the perception that Japan is the home of high-tech. But to me, the gap between the image and the reality is the crux of the strange and intoxicating delight of Japan - traditional values housed in modern veneer.
There have been many stories of late articulating this commonly found conundrum of Japanese society, and the many foreign entrepreneurs who are finding nice little cosy niches in which to dazzle a market notoriously difficult to crack. One of those niches is banking, and I must confess to being lured to another bank - one that enables me to navigate all of its services in English on the Net. It's true that I need the babying; as I stumble over the hiragana in my son's picture books, I realize I will not be able to read kanji for some time. My intentions are good, but unless anyone has a Babel fish handy, it's the English- language option for me at the moment.
I can't evaluate the Japanese sites, but if the English sites are anything to go by, they are generally not worth the domain fees. It begs the question: if the Japanese sites are indeed much better, why is it so hard to mirror the Japanese site in English? Methinks there's a cosy niche there for someone to fill it.
-- Willhemina Wahlin
This article was originally published via the Japan Inc. JIN Newsletter on January 11 2006.
Comments
Cheers!