[Interview] Delivering users' voices to the government and achieving stable usability
Table of Contents
- Assigned To
- It's not about how much you use it, it's about how comfortable you are.
- Acting as a "coordinator" between related ministries and agencies and as a "bridge" to convey users' voices
- Identifying the "greatest common denominator" sought by users and realizing it simply
- Be prepared to take your time, because things won't change right away
- Related Pages
Assigned To
KATO Hiroyuki Director for Policy Planning
In September 2020, I was transferred to the Cabinet Secretariat IT Strategy Office to make use of my experience in tax system and tax administration and diplomacy. Since the inauguration of Digital Agency in September 2021, I have led initiatives such as Digital Invoice and Visit Japan Web.
*Affiliations and job titles are as of April 1, 2025.
It's not about how much you use it, it's about how comfortable you are.
- Please tell us what you are particularly conscious of in advancing this initiative.
Kato Visit Japan Web does not aim to increase the utilization rate itself. The important thing is to make it easy for people who need the service to use it smoothly without any burden. The most important thing is "ease of use." I believe that if the ease of use increases, the utilization rate will naturally increase. On the other hand, if there is a country or region with a low utilization rate, we will consider there to be some reason and consider how to solve it.
For this reason, we are actively collecting not only various data but also the opinions of users and utilizing them in our considerations. This is truly the practice of "using data as a matter of course." We are striving to achieve a better user experience in both digital and real life.
Acting as a "coordinator" between related ministries and agencies and as a "bridge" to convey users' voices
- What role did you play in working with multiple ministries and agencies?
Kato Kato-In this effort, the understanding and cooperation of the relevant ministries and agencies responsible for immigration procedures at Immigration Services Agency, Ministry of Finance Customs, and other sites are essential. However, since the roles and responsibilities required of each ministry and agency are different, there has been a tendency to focus on realizing self-optimization. Therefore, Digital Agency has come up with one challenge of "realizing digitalization for immigration procedures" and has requested that the relevant ministries and agencies work together to realize it.
On top of that, Digital Agency not only acted as a "coordinator" for the related ministries and agencies, but also actively acted as a "bridge" to convey the voices of users. It would be like putting the cart before the horse if too much priority was given to digitalization and the original business was undermined. Digital Agency did not go too far beyond what was necessary and thought that it was important for the related ministries and agencies to think about the best digitalization for themselves and to focus on helping to put it into practice.
Identifying the "greatest common denominator" sought by users and realizing it simply
- Have you done anything to improve the usability for a wide range of users?
Kato Visit Japan Web is just a tool to finish immigration procedures smoothly. Therefore, it should be simple. The goal was to find the "greatest common denominator" among the needs of various users in a state in which the correct selection could be made naturally without special operation and the operation was completed without being noticed.
In fact, I myself am a heavy user of Visit Japan Web, so I have many opportunities to have the perspective of a user. However, there are some areas where this is not enough. The feelings of foreign users, who have different cultures, languages, and values, cannot be understood without actually listening to them. That is why I regularly set up opportunities to listen directly to the opinions of foreign users and engage in repeated dialogue. However, if the opinions of each and every person are reflected as they are, it may end up being difficult to use. Therefore, I try to find the common points brought about by that dialogue, or the "greatest common denominator," and consider improvements based on that. To be honest, it takes time and effort, but we continue to work on it as an essential initiative to make it more comfortable to use.
Be prepared to take your time, because things won't change right away
- What advice do you have for administrators who want to create better services?
Kato I think the important thing in creating a good service is to "First of all, try using the service you provide yourself." If you don't actually touch it, you won't be able to see what the challenges are and where and how to change it. Knowing how you would feel if you were a user should be the most familiar user perspective.
Another important thing is the determination to change, even if it takes time. For example, in order to provide better services, there may be situations where the administrative system itself must be changed. In that case, more adjustments than imagined will be required. Even if the voices of users are delivered to the relevant ministries and agencies, the system will not change immediately. There are systems and rules that have been built over many years, and it takes time to move them. I think that the determination and attitude of "building a relationship of trust over time and changing it little by little" is essential.