Self-taught coder launches app to help commuters navigate MRT stations, enjoys early success
SINGAPORE — As workers put finishing touches to the seven new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), app developer Joshua Chua is also racing to get his recently-launched MRT mobile application ready for the June 23 start of the service.
- The MRT app, Next Station, started as a thought bubble for Joshua Chua 10 years ago when he was studying at a polytechnic
- He noticed friends and other commuters struggling to find their way around MRT stations and thought he could help
- Mr Chua, 28, eventually created the app and made it public in April 2024, after eight months of development and promoted it on Reddit where he garnered positive responses
- Prior to developing apps, Mr Chua studied game design but taught himself how to code
- Next Station has been downloaded more than 500 times and at one time ranked number eight on the top 10 navigation apps on the Apple app store
- Next Station provides users with estimates of the first and last train for the day
- It offers interactive maps of MRT stations and the surrounding area so commuters can get directions from the platforms to their desired exits
DEVELOPING NEXT STATION
Since being made available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, the app has been downloaded more than 500 times, a creditable if modest start that Mr Chua is hoping to build on.
Mr Chua said that he did not have a background in app development prior to developing Next Station.
"I studied game design but taught myself how to code and do user experience (UX) design," he said.
His first brush with app development came when he went into National Service (NS) where he was given an opportunity to come up with NS-related apps for his unit.
"It's to improve the productivity and essentially make the lives of other soldiers in my unit more efficient," said Mr Chua.
This exposure eventually led to a chance to work with other developers to create an app for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Armies Rifle Meet in 2017, held in Singapore.
This app provided a live view of the events as well as scores of the shooters and which countries were leading on the scoreboard.
After ending his NS, Mr Chua started to work freelance in the user interface (UI) and UX space where he was able to further hone his skillset which included developing apps for clients as well as developing plug-ins for UI/UX software.
"The initial idea for Next Station came about 10 years ago when I was still really new to UI/UX design but there were a few of the rudimentary ideas already set in place there.
"Whenever I picked up a new skill, this MRT app had always been at the back of my mind," he said.
In addition to his technical skills, Mr Chua said that he also had to do lots of user testing with friends and research.
"My research originally came from a lot of publicly available sources such as photos of the train station, videos of people taking the MRT, and from there I would count (the number of doors to the nearest exit)," he said.
Another source that helped him a lot was Singapore's version of Wikipedia called Singapore Wiki.
However, when he needs more information, Mr Chua said that he would make a personal trip down to the station.
"An example I can give of this is Shenton Way MRT station," he said.
Mr Chua said that due to the station's unique layout, he could not "suss out" the information just from a photo or a video.
"After I gather the information, I will then go into the more technical things such as how to design my code to map out the correct door numbers for exits and transferring of trains," he said.
With the upcoming commencement of Stage 4 TEL stations, Mr Chua has ensured no major upgrade is needed.
He simplified the process by editing the code in a way that means no major update would be required on the user’s end when changes are made.
CHALLENGES FACED DURING APP DEVELOPMENT
For Mr Chua, it wasn't so much the technical aspects of developing the app that were the most challenging, but rather fine-tuning it to give users the best experience.
"How can I simplify a piece of information that when a user sees it, it is immediately intuitive?" said Mr Chua.
An example he gave was coming up with a solution for the exit map, which he called a "very interesting" problem to solve, especially for a solo developer like him.
"Traditionally, what people would do with a map is to list down all of the places that are near the station but as a single developer working and maintaining the app, I don't know what new buildings are going to sprout up," he said.
Wishing to avoid the tedium of constantly checking locations and updating the app, he needed to find a way to sustain and support the app on a long-term basis.
Mr Chua opted to provide users with the ability to tap on an area in the map which will show them the directions to their nearest exit.
For example, if a user realises he needs to take exit A at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station for the most direct route to his destination, he will just need to tap on the highlighted area in the map to show him the way.
Another challenge was marketing Next Station to the public.
As he did not wish to pay for advertisements and he didn't have a very wide social circle, he posted about his app on Reddit, after he noticed a community of Singaporeans there.
"There's a gathering of Singaporeans here and I made an app for Singaporeans so why not try posting here and see what is the overall feedback and traction?" said Mr Chua.
His efforts paid off when the post garnered a lot of positive feedback, with other users saying that the app "looked good" and this was an app that they had been looking for.
This positive reception was also reflected in the number of downloads for his app after the post went live.
"That shot the numbers up immediately, like it was the eighth place on the app store for navigation that weekend," he said.
While Mr Chua is not prepared to give up his full-time job as a product designer and app developer at a software company to solely develop apps, he said that he would still set aside time to work on this app and also develop plug-ins for UI/UX designers.
When asked if he had any plans to develop a bus app, he said that it's still "up in the air".
"I'll be honest, Google Maps and Apple Maps have the target demographic and they have teams to develop the maps so I have to ask myself, do I have the capacity and the skills to take on a larger project like this?
"I also need to know what is the core feature that's missing before I consider it," he said.
