Japan's trains are great. Why is booking one so hard?

Japan's trains are renowned for their engineering prowess, yet booking a ticket online proves to be a perplexing task. Upon arriving at the airport, people-watching immediately became my pastime. However, even the Japanese online experience feels like stepping back into the 1990s. Websites like yahoo.co.jp and rakuten.co.jp are rife with outdated designs and an overwhelming abundance of information.

Booking a train ticket online is an exercise in confusion. I had to rely on ChatGPT to decipher the myriad of fields and checkboxes. The system demands a basic fare ticket or an IC card such as Suica, not to mention a Super (Limited) Express Train ticket. Am I purchasing a train ticket or a supplementary fare? Why the need for so many additional requirements?

Japan's JR railway network is fragmented into six regional passenger companies, each with distinct booking platforms, overlapping coverage, and unique rules. The user bears the burden of navigating this convoluted landscape. During a particularly frustrating experience, I received a message after confirming my booking, informing me that a physical credit card was required to retrieve my ticket at the station. Unfortunately, I had used a virtual credit card, necessitating a cancellation, a fee, and a subsequent rebooking.

Japanese user interfaces may not be universally derided as "bad," but they certainly exhibit peculiarities. Some inconsistencies can be attributed to cultural preferences such as valuing familiarity over novelty, adhering to caution over experimentation, and a penchant for certainty. The 90s aesthetic of Yahoo! Japan evokes the sentiment, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Yet, there is a deeper issue at play: the internal organization of companies shapes their software, a phenomenon known as Conway's Law. This law emphasizes the reflection of organizational communication structures within software systems. My train booking experience exemplifies this concept, where the system inquired about the railway company responsible for the route, a clear manifestation of organizational structure permeating the user experience.

It is perplexing why users must grapple with the intricate organizational structure of a company solely to utilize its software.