HK Magazine: How does Toilet Rush work?
Leo To: Basically, after you open the application, you can find toilets around you based on several categories. The first one is distance, so that you can find toilets that are 150 meters away, 500 meters away, 1 kilometer away, etc. The second one is a special one, called “I am going to explode!”, which helps users find the 5 nearest toilets right away! The third category is district, such as Mongkok, Sha Tin and so on. This category allows users to submit information on toilets. Each toilet has detailed data regarding its exact location with a map, type (male, female or disabled) and some statistics based on users’ contributions such as cleanliness and waiting time. The waiting time is essential because it saves time for many. A typical example is Langham Place, Mongkok. The female toilet near the cinema is always crowded, but the one on the level below is always empty. Other supplementary information includes facilities information, such as tissue paper, drinking machines and baby care and shower rooms.

HK: What was your inspiration for this app?
LT: It all began in early 2009, a few months after Apple allowed third party developers to develop applications. We wanted to try out two things at that time—firstly, to find out if the mobile market actually is a business opportunity and secondly, if location-based applications work [applications that track your location and provide suggestions]. We started thinking about other essentials in life and that’s how we came up with toilets. So we created Toilet Rush, which is an application that searches for toilets around you, and it is further enhanced by the Web 2.0 concept that embraces user-generated content. All Toilet Rush users can contribute by submitting toilet information and sharing it with everyone else.

HK: Is it really that hard to find a toilet in town?
LT: I’ve had bad experiences trying to find toilets in old industrial areas that I’m not particularly familiar with. It’s difficult to find toilets since there aren’t shopping malls in those areas and it is hard to ask around. The best hope lies in restaurants, but their toilets are usually only for customers. Those experiences might have inspired me to develop this application and make it more convenient for fellow toilet seekers.

HK: How long did it take to develop?
LT: The actual development only took me a little more than two weeks because we started Toilet Rush as an experimental leisure project. After it was developed, we had to wait for the approval from Apple—all in all around a month’s time in total. While waiting, my colleagues and I were busy putting toilet information in. We entered around 200 toilets. But now, there are around 2,000 in the database. Ever since the application has been available for download, my team has stopped entering information so basically the 1,800 new entries are all from users. There is no guarantee that all the information from the users is correct, so we do fact-checking from time to time. But we tend to trust our users, since they are quite reliable.

HK: What has been the response to Toilet Rush?
LT: It was hugely popular, but then since we started with only around 200 toilets (and mostly in Shatin and Fanling since my partner and I live there), it wasn’t actually enough to satisfy the users. Lack of information was the biggest criticism at first. But after 3 months, the number of toilets grew to 1,000 so the problem became less serious. Now we have around 2,000. I won’t say that all the toilets in Hong Kong are included, but then again most of the toilets available for public are in the database. The application remains popular and has been downloaded more than 100,000 times.