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Suica (Super Urban Intelligent Card) is a radio-activated IC card system originally developed by JR East for train station gates to replace the then-standard magnetic cards. The new system was faster and more reliable than the conventional way but initial tests reveled that train riders had trouble using the system properly. Shunji Yamanaka designed several variations of the gate in 1996 and 1997 to facilitate user interaction, modifying geometry, wording, and positioning of antenna and display among other variables. Hours of user testing and analysis led to the final design, now being used literally by millions of busy Japanese commuters daily without hesitation.

MATERIALS: Plastic, Circuitry / DIMENSIONS: 620x179x57mm / PROJECT STARTED: March 1996 / COMPLETED: November 2001 / DESIGN AND DIRECTION: Shunji Yamanaka / DESIGN ENGINEERING: Yuji Mitani / CLIENT: East Japan Railway Company