What are your thoughts on the evolution of UI and the UI problems that are impeding the promotion of DX in Japan?
Toshinao Sasaki (hereinafter Sasaki): First of all, there is no doubt that as DX is promoted, UI will evolve and the Internet will become easier to use.
Looking back at the time, more than 20 years ago in the 1990s, when personal computers finally spread to Japanese society and the Internet began to be used, there were many books on how to use a computer in bookstores at that time, but in the smartphone era, I think there are few people reading introductory books, including those on PCs. This means that the UI has evolved and become easier to use, and whether it's Android OS or iOS, it's now intuitive to use, so you can use it to a certain extent even if you start using it without any prior knowledge. And it's becoming easier to use every year.
The evolution of UI started with the CUI of the MS-DOS era, then moved to the GUI of Mac and Windows in the late 1980s and 1990s, and with the emergence of smartphones in the mid-2000s, touch controls became possible on the display. The difference was whether to use a mouse or a finger, and the operation system was basically the same as that of a PC GUI, so it can be said that the UI of PCs and other devices has only evolved once in the past few decades.
Is there a possibility that UI will change dramatically in the future?
Sasaki: Yes. Since the emergence of generative AI, it has been said that the OS will be the center of UI in the future, and when considering the future evolution of UI, one thing is that voice input will become the norm. Also, since the UI of Apple's Vision Pro is only gesture movements, another direction is the gesture UI that Apple is considering next.
There is a possibility that the gesture UI and the direction of voice support for generative AI will be linked, and I think the final landing point will be in the direction of talking to computers using voice and body language.
Will it become the norm to talk to devices?
Sasaki: Yes, it's exactly the same as when we humans talk to each other. I think that we will eventually reach a point where all the menu screens will disappear and we will talk to computers in the same way we talk to people, using body language.
Furthermore, if it's voice and body language, the current form of smartphones will no longer be necessary, so the form of devices will become ultra-small and we may never see them on a daily basis.
Will it become a form that can no longer be called a device?
Sasaki: Yes, temporarily. But it's still hard for humans to give commands unless something is in front of them. That's because it's voice and body language, so the response to that needs to be something like natural language plus natural physical expression, so I think that the final landing point for devices will be robots.
So, in a few decades, we may see a world where we walk around with small robots, or carry a small robot on our shoulders and keep talking. If that happens, I think the difficulty of using UI will basically disappear completely.
So the UI is an important factor in the process of promoting DX?
Sasaki: Yes. I think that is what is hindering the promotion of DX in Japan. For example, cashless payment has now become established, and various cashless payment methods can be used at supermarkets, but on the other hand, we still see elderly people paying with cash.
Why do elderly people use cash? Of course, there are people who intentionally believe that cash is better for various reasons, but in the end, the biggest hurdle to switching to cashless payment is the initial account setup.
I think this hurdle is abnormally high for people who are not used to it. Another thing I often hear is that people use iPhones but don't know their Apple IDs. For people who don't even know their Apple IDs, even if you tell them that they can register their bank account to Face ID, they don't even know what Face ID is.
For example, Japanese companies often have services like the My Number Card, which require you to set up two or three IDs and passwords for some reason, or Google, which requires two-step authentication to prevent hijacking. The initial hurdles are too high, and while there are no problems if you are used to using it, when an issue occurs and you have to reset your account or reset your password, I think the problem with DX today is that it is very difficult to use.
I think it is certainly difficult for elderly people to understand.
Sasaki: There are also other issues, such as the linking of credit cards to auto-charge SUICA, and in the past, only credit cards issued by JR West could be used on the e5489 net, which has already been improved.
I think that the difficulty of using the UI itself is one of the factors that hinders DX.
It seems that the idea of perfecting security on the part of the companies is actually holding them back.
Sasaki: That's right. In Japan, as soon as even the slightest leak occurs, there is a big fuss and company executives hold press conferences, so I think that from the perspective of the person in charge on the ground, it is very strict that leaks must not be allowed, but since there is a certain degree of security risk when dealing with the web, I think it is necessary to recognize that there are times when you have no choice but to accept it.
But I think that this is what leads to the web being very difficult to use in Japanese companies. So, if Japan is serious about promoting DX, I think it will probably not work unless we perfect this UI issue a little more.
Also, the web services of companies called IT general contractors are just difficult to use. There are many services that are easier to use for startups in Japan, but I think it is also a problem that corporate users are forced to use the services of IT general contractors.
From the corporate user's perspective, do you feel safe because it is a service from a large company?
Sasaki: I think that is true, but I know someone who works as a DX consultant, and he says that many presidents of small and medium-sized companies want to introduce DX because it is trendy.
While DX is about changing the very way business is done, I've heard that there are many people who don't understand DX itself, thinking that DX will be achieved by introducing some kind of tool, like the past IT revolution. If these people proceed with DX without a good understanding, they may end up introducing services that are difficult to use just because they're told to by IT general contractors.
The existence of such managers may be a factor in preventing DX.
"Power is always evil," "The common sense of the people is always right," "The weak should be protected," "Artificial things are dangerous," "Natural origins are best"... Outdated values that continue to linger in Japanese society. A cutting-edge essay that dismantles the "myths" that run counter to the evolution of cutting-edge technology and serves as a guidepost for thinking about the future.
◉ Toshinao Sasaki
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1961. Dropped out of Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics. After working as a reporter for the Mainichi Shimbun and the editorial department of Monthly ASCII, he is now a freelance journalist. He has written many books, including "The Age of Curation" (Chikuma Shinsho), "The Layered World" (NHK Publishing Shinsho), "Homemade Meals Are the Best Treats" (Magazine House), and "And Life Becomes a Community" (Anonymous Studio).
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