Tokyo Metro App Project

October 03, 2014

Tokyo Metro App Project Team

Overview

UPDATED DRAFT

AS OF

2014/10/03

Challenge 'Tokyo Metro 10th app contest' togetherWhat are we going to do?

Purpose Develop a Web app with trains/stations data provided by Tokyo Metro

and data from any other 3rd parties if necessary

CriteriaApp making Tokyo Metro users' life more convenient and comfortable

=「もっとうれしいアプリ」

Time Span From today to 11/17(Mon), Roughly 8 weeks

Opportunity to gain start-up experience

Why should we do that?

Short term merits during the contest

• Chance to win grand prix: 1 million yen

• Learning experience for beginners

– complete process from idea to MVP

– various challenges: function definition,

development, etc.

• Almost risk-free start-up opportunity for

full-time employees

– moonlighters welcomed

– competition within a roughly defined

boundary: only limited cost and energy

needed

Long term merits after the contest

• Possibility to start a real business

– improve the MVP with the support from

Tokyo Metro or other train companies

– Expand geographically: from Tokyo to

other cities with metro system

• Shape partnership to chase bigger ideas

– work in a team with common achievement

and bonds

– consider and realize other start-up ideas

together

It can become a good start for entrepreneur career

Now

4 major tasks to be handled within 2 monthsHow should we do that?

week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4 week 5 week 6 week 7 week 8

9/22 9/29 10/6 10/13 10/20 10/27 11/3 11/10 11/17

team building

and concept

design

data analysis

and

processing

back end

development

front end

development

member

recruiting

concept

discussion

Tokyo Metro data

analysis and processing

benchmark

pre-study

3rd party data analysis

and process

*if necessary

first cut development

first cut development

debug and update

user test

and update

MVP

final test

and output

Application FeaturesThe features will be prioritized based on minimum requirements for contest to team image

Write

Search

Read

Profile

Minimum Features Expected Features Full Features

• Post a message

• Tag by location

• Tag by category

• Sort by time

• Sort by category

• Sort by distance

• Keyword search

• Comment on post

• Train notification

space

• All users and posts

are anonymous

• Tag by user input

• Attach photos to

post

• Sort by popularity/

“likes”

• Search by user

profile

• “Like” button

• User profile page

• Input user profile

• Link profile to

posts

• “Flag” button for

inappropriate

content

• Messaging by

profile

• Connect profile to

Facebook API

+ +

+ +

+ +

+ +

Current business issues of TM in regard to 2020 Tokyo OlympicsWhat are the concepts and features of the app?

Tokyo Metro 'Radiating Charm Project'（“魅力発信”プロジェクト）• To improve service quality and safety

• To make the experience of using metro more fun

• To promote the charm of Tokyo and Tokyo Metro

(safe, care free and fun)

Initiative of

Tokyo Metro

Key words/directions

Connect with areas along metro lines to

make staying Tokyo more fun

More accessible, more convenient

Tokyo Metro

World-leading safety level

Example of major measures

• Weave travel info into metro map

• Local event around stations

• Station reformation

• Navigation/info anywhere in metro

• Multi-language display/voice guide

• In-car infotainment

• Infrastructure examination and

improvement

relevant

Preliminary ideas for discussion: 1. 'Metro app for foreigners' What are the concepts and features of the app?

Target/

Background

Concept:

metro app for foreigners Specific Features

Promotion to travelers

/foreigners becomes a

strategic focus of TM

Increasing number of

foreigners traveling in

Tokyo

As foreigners, we have

direct experience of

needs that lead to ideas

of functions/features

more convenient

traveling on Tokyo Metro

easy transit route search

• shorter walk distance

for transit

• transit at station with

elevator/escalator

purpose-based

route search

• example: search by

'museum in 30 minutes'

or 'shrine festival in 15

minutes'

locate interesting

place/event intuitively

Target: foreign travelers

Preliminary ideas for discussion: 2. 'Metro SNS' What are the concepts and features of the app?

Target/

Background

Concept:

Metro SNS Specific Features

SNS profile for metro users

Profile-based user

interaction

• (illustrated on following

pages)

Personal information based

navigation

Metro-based SNS

• (illustrated on following

pages)

On-board SNS app

• (illustrated on following

pages)

Anonymous, location-based

posting and sharing

Target: Tokyo residents

Making traveling in metro

more fun according to

TM's initiative

People traveling on

subway have common

background and

experience, a good

condition for SNS

Big data collected by

SNS can be leveraged to

provide advanced service

1

2

3

Feature 2 : user profile and basic interaction between users1

Items of user profile Examples of user interaction

Basic

info

Metro

info

Preference

info

age, gender

thumbnail photo

participating events

tag of stations/lines

・・・

・・・

closest station to home/office

frequently using line

time of taking trains

• matching: finding people taking the

same train/at the same station

• adding friends/sending messages

• reminding friends of coming trains

• inviting people to events near stations

• sharing location when meeting at

stations

・・・

Potential doorway collecting user data for TM

Feature 2 : platform to share TM experiences anonymously

Source: Uber

Passengers can entertain

themselves at the station

by reading posts from

other local passengers

People can share

anonymously to nearby

passengers about

interesting events that

happen to them

Tokyo Metro can get

insights on how people

feel about their metro

experiences through this

forum

2

Feature 3 : Predictive Model for Tokyo Metro DestinationsGive personalized notifications for passengers based on predicted Metro destination points

Explanation

Recommendations and

notifications will be based

on the destination of the

user

Tokyo metro can use the

app as an advertisement

platform for nearby

merchants

Foreigners will have a

better experience

navigating Tokyo using

this app than Google

Maps as a tool to

enhanced tourism

Source: Uber

3

Appendix

Ref.) Detailed criteria of app contest

Japanese

「もっとうれしい」アプリ東京メトロをご利用になるお客様の生活がより便利でより快適になるようなアプリであるか

【アイディア】創造性、独創性、発展性、有益性などがあるか

【完成度】実用性、操作性、安定性などがあるか

【デザイン】表現や、デザイン技法など

English

'App that makes people happier'

Is it an app that makes Tokyo Metro users' life

more convenient and comfortable?

【Idea】Creativity, uniqueness , scalability and

benefits to users, etc.

【Quality】Practical value, usability, stability, etc.

【Design】skill of design and visual expression

Ref.) Date provided by Tokyo Metro

Japanese English

東京メトロ全線の列車位置、遅延時間等に係るデータ※データは1分ごとに配信

• 方向(どこ方面行きか)• 列車番号• 列車種別(各停、特急、急行、快速、臨時) ※非営業列車(試運転、回送)は公開しない

• 始発駅・行先駅• 所属会社(どの鉄道事業者の車両か)• 在線位置(ホーム、駅間の2区分)• 遅延時間(5分以上の遅延を「遅延」として表示)

上記データに加え列車・施設に関する多様なデータ（従前より東京メトロのホームページで公開している情報を、データ形式を変えて提供）

• 列車情報（列車時刻表、運賃表、駅間所要時間、各駅の乗降人員数、女性専用車両）

• 施設情報（バリアフリー情報、駅出入口情報、車両ごとの最寄り施設・出入口案内）

Location and delay information of all trains on Tokyo

Metro lines

※updated every 1 minute

• Direction

• Train number

• Type(local, express, etc.)

• Starting/Destination

• Train owner company

• Location (in a station or between stations)

• Delay time (shown as delayed if delayed for >5mins)

Other data

(Currently provided on Tokyo Metro website. data format

changed)

▶ Train information (time table, price, running time

between stations, # of people getting on/off, location of

female car）▶ Facility information (barrier-free, exits, closest

facilities/exits by car number)

Data format: JSON-LD