- The best routes are suggested by mode of transportation, such as "stroller," "baby carriage," and "walking together!
- You can see at a glance "places where you can change diapers and breastfeed" on your route or at your destination!
- The site also offers a variety of useful information, such as a "Lost and Found" checklist and "Recommended Places to Go!
NAVITIME for Baby" is a web service for users raising children. The service provides the best routes according to the means of transportation, such as "stroller," "baby carriage," and "walking together. This service won the grand prize in the "BabyTech® Award Japan 2021 Feeding and Eating Category. The BabyTech.jp editorial staff interviewed Mr. Wataru Sato of Navitime Japan Corporation, the developer of "NAVITIME for Baby" (titles below omitted), to learn more about the service, how it was developed, and its future development.
(We spoke to...)
Navitime Japan Co.
Manager, Media Division
Wataru Sato
A web service that provides total support for "traveling with children!
Editorial:Thank you very much for your time today. First of all, could you give us an overview of "NAVITIME for Baby" and its features?
Sato:NAVITIME for Baby is a web service that supports people traveling with children. Challenges when traveling with children include, for example, having to pass through stairs on the way when using a stroller, and the uncertainty of where to place the stroller when bringing it into the train.
Editorial:I know exactly what you mean, as I too always have a stroller for family outings!
Sato:There are also concerns not only during the move, but also before and after the move. Before the move, you may have to worry about forgetting something. And after the move, there may be issues such as not being able to find a place to change diapers or feed the baby at the destination .......
NAVITIME Japan's corporate philosophy is "to create more profitable time by using navigation technology to support safe and secure travel. Based on this corporate philosophy, NAVITIME for Baby was developed with the desire to contribute to solving various problems when traveling with children.
Sato:The first feature of this service is that it provides total support for traveling with children. In addition to route guidance during the trip, the service provides a "checklist" to prevent forgetting things before the trip, "articles to help you find your way around," and a "map display of diaper changing and breastfeeding locations" after the trip.
The next feature is that NAVITIME for Baby automatically suggests the best route based on the age of the child and the method of transportation. For example, if you choose a stroller, the system automatically sets the walking speed to "very slow walking" and suggests a route using an elevator instead of stairs. The walking speed consideration and route search that prioritizes elevators and escalators were originally provided for many years in our main service, "NAVITIME". We have now leveraged this technology to offer this service as a dedicated function for people with children.
Editorial:It's nice to know that all I have to do is select "stroller," "carrying a baby carriage," or "walking together" and the appropriate settings will be made for me! It's great to know that the app will make the appropriate settings for you! I think it is quite troublesome for many people to make detailed operations such as "Elevator priority use, walking speed is slow ......".
NAVITIME for Baby allows route searches in three patterns: "stroller," "baby carriage," and "walking together.
Sato:In some metropolitan areas, it also indicates which side of the train door opens at each station (right side or left side toward the direction of travel). We have provided this information in the hope that it will help you decide where to place your stroller inside the train.
Editorial:Yes, there is! When I ride the train with my children, I think ...... to stay close to the other side of the train because the door on this side will open at the next station.
Sato:The approximate level of train congestion during each time period is also displayed, so you can plan your trip to avoid the congestion at that time of day. All of this information is provided to support safe and secure travel.
In addition, the famous map search for nursing rooms and diaper changing facilities at train transfer stations and destinations.Dear Mom and Dad MapThe map shows nearby facilities that offer nursing rooms and diaper changing services in conjunction with data from NAVTIME Japan, Inc. Using Navitime Japan's technology, you can also check the route and time required to reach these facilities.
Editorial:It has all the features that people who go out with children wanted.
Sato:NAVITIME has provided route search services focusing on "means of transportation" such as "walking," "trains," "cars," and "bicycles," while NAVITIME for Baby is a service focusing on "characteristics of people traveling" with children. I believe that this difference has led to differences in the content and approach of the various services.
The development was triggered by various worries and anxieties of "traveling with children" that were actually experienced.
Editorial:Can you tell us about the development process?
Sato:When my child was around one year old, I started pushing a stroller around more and more. At that time, I realized that there were many areas not covered by existing map applications, including NAVITIME. I realized that when I go out with my child, there are really various concerns such as "the location of stairs and elevators on the route," "the direction in which train doors open," "whether there are facilities for changing diapers and breastfeeding," and so on. Based on my own experience, I decided to develop this service in order to contribute to solving the problems of people traveling with children by eliminating their worries and anxieties through navigation technology.
Editorial:You really have to be careful when you go out with children. ......
Sato:Yes, I did. We thought that the way of transportation itself would change from the case of adults only. And since a navigation service based not on the "means of transportation" but on the "characteristics of people on the move" was an unprecedented idea, we decided to start development with the support of the company.
Editorial:By the way, NAVITIME for Baby is a web service, not an app?
Sato:Yes, we did. Since NAVITIME for Baby was an experimental project, we decided to develop it as a web service, with the idea of quickly releasing it to the world.
Editorial:Were there any particular challenges in the development process?
Sato:The development team had a lot of discussions about what kind of functions and information to provide. From the beginning, we had an image that we wanted to create a service that would cover both before and after a move, but various opinions emerged from the team members as to what kind of content should be provided to give this a concrete form.
Editorial:It's true that if you don't take the train with children, you don't realize the importance of information about which side of the train door opens. ......
Sato:We also discussed how to present the information. As a result, we decided not to use the same display method as in the previous NAVITIME, but to devise a new method for people with children. For example, when indicating the direction of alighting when the train arrives at a station, NAVITIME displays "right/left" in text. However, with NAVITIME for Baby, it is displayed as an icon. This is because parents and guardians are in a hurry when they are with their children and have little time to spare. We have devised this way so that even under such circumstances, the information can be understood intuitively with a quick glance.
Sato:I also thought it was absolutely necessary to display facilities for changing diapers and breastfeeding around the destination. This is because the time spent after the trip, i.e., after reaching the destination, is longer than the time spent during the trip. Also, since diaper changing and breastfeeding occur frequently during an outing, we thought that if we could not provide information on this part of the trip, we could not say that we were providing total support for the outing.
However, we did not have enough data on facilities where diapers could be changed and breastfeeding was available. This is why we decided to link our data with MamapaMap, because I used MamapaMap while raising my child and was well aware of the abundance, freshness, and quality of their data. I asked our in-house liaison to help us establish a partnership, and I think it is fair to say that this was one of the points we were particular about.
Rave reviews from moms and dads who often travel with small children!
Editorial:Can you tell us when NAVITIME for Baby will be released?
Sato:Development began around August 2020 and was released on March 24, 2021.
Editorial:What kind of feedback have you received from users?
Sato:Immediately after the service was launched on social networking sites, people started saying, "I've been waiting for this kind of service! You understand the anxieties of people with children! and "I understand the anxieties of being with children! The fact that it is a web service has also been well received from the perspectives of "no need to download an app" and "no need to use the service depending on your smartphone.
Editorial:What are the areas where NAVITIME for Baby is available?
Sato:Route search and search for diaper changing and nursing facilities are available nationwide. Information such as train alighting direction and congestion level is available in some areas such as Tokyo 23 wards, Osaka, and Nagoya.
Work on improving and enhancing current features rather than adding new ones
Editorial:Finally, please tell us about the future development of NAVITIME for Baby.
Sato:We would like to continue to improve and expand our service content. We would like to expand the areas where we provide information on train alighting directions and congestion levels, and we are also considering what we can do to support travel taking congestion levels into account. Rather than adding new functions, we would like to focus on improving the quality of existing functions.
Editorial:Thank you very much. By the way, there are some local stations where the gap between the train and the platform is very large, so I thought it would be great if you could post such information on ....... It is often a near-miss for people with strollers or children.
Sato:That was a perspective that we didn't even have within our company. I will refer to it!
After the interview
My daughter is now 3 years old, and I have always been very nervous when I took her out with me. I had to get off the train every time I arrived at a station because I left the stroller by the open door of the train. This service will solve such problems in one fell swoop. Even if you have a familiar map application, please give it a try!
NAVITIME for Baby" website (available for smartphones)
https://www.navitime.co.jp/withchild/list
NAVITIME for Baby" Press Release
https://corporate.navitime.co.jp/topics/pr/202103/24_5335.html
