QR Code Fatigue | Hacker News Reader

QR Code Fatigue

businessweek.com

20 pointsshill22 comments

The article's title of "QR Code Fatigue" struck me as a little funny. It's not like they're wide-spread and I don't think anyone really uses them anyways (the terrible numbers bear that out). Unlike the more well known phrase "Clinton Fatigue", QR codes where never known by or felt <em>forced upon</em> by a majority anyways.

Maybe marketing companies (which seem to be what the article is based on) is starting to give up on the things, but that's hardly fatigue; it's a simple ROI decision. That's enough time wasted on that.

One thing about the article is that it is based almost exclusively on a marketing-based use case. I think it stinks for marketing, because nobody wants to actively seek out a sales pitch, especially one with a bit of friction like QR codes. Now, if you use QR codes for work, then that's a different story. I worked with a couple guys on a film tracking system for a film festival and posting QR codes on canisters, vehicles, and locations for the purpose of "checking in" was quite effective.

  > QR codes where never known by a majority anyways.

Just last week, I drove past a billboard on the freeway with a huge QR code at the bottom of the advert. (Apparently I'm supposed to pull out my phone while driving to learn more!) Not only that, I saw a bunch of bananas at the grocery store that where the label was basically the brand name + tiny QR code instead of the normal 'grocery code' (e.g. 4011 for bananas, 94011 for organic bananas, etc).

Even if the general public doesn't know the term "QR Code" they see those things everywhere. I'll bet that most people probably don't even know what they are for, but they definitely notice them.

For broad marketing it's nonsense -- the early premise was that it was like some sort of exclusive code. For specific marketing, however, it can be great. I think QR codes on real estate signs (bringing you to the full property page) are brilliant. I've noticed manuals are often coming with them now, linking to the electronic version. Again, awesome. They have tremendous utility but it isn't surprising that people try to overextend them.

The major problem I see with QR Codes is that they tend to be 'naked'. They're an opaque blob of stuff and it's not clear what I'm going to get for scanning one. They seriously need to be accompanied by some sort of text and it would be ideal if there were some standard for how that text was presented so I can quickly figure out if it's worth scanning.

This is especially true of QR Codes because the use of them in public is asking people and not machines to interact with them. Contrast with barcodes and MICR codes which were primarily there to be read by machine but both are human readable (almost all barcodes have their number equivalent below them).

but both are human readable (almost all barcodes have their number equivalent below them)

I think it's worth keeping in mind that this sort of "human readable" is very different to what you suggest (and I agree with) QR codes need. One is "here's a backup for if the code doesn't work" and one is "here's prose about what this QR code takes you to".

QR codes don't even have to take you anywhere. The code can contain email addresses, phone numbers, phone numbers + SMS message text, calendar information, plain text, vCard data, etc. QRs containing URLs are the most common in my experience, but you'd probably need a HTML5 badge system* to convey what the QR code contained if you didn't want to spell it out right next to the code.

* http://clubajax.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/HTML5Icons1.p...

Good idea, but UPC codes contain only 12 digits which can be nested neatly under the machine readable portion. It requires significantly more print area to represent a human readable QR code body. Maybe standard icons and a domain name (or phone number) could help identify the protocol and contents?

The article also mentions that QR code readers are not widely installed. I think this will become less of an issue in "the future" when we will use our smart phones to interface with everything--refrigerators, drip irrigation systems, door locks, automobiles, etc. When that happens, consumers will demand phones with OEM scanning software and a dedicated scanning button.

I think the primary problem with QR codes is the whole dance you have to do to read them. I have to notice the QR code. Pull out my phone. Wake it up. Load the QR app. Point it at the QR code. Really you want to have QR codes automatically read by looking at then and stored in some sort of buffer until you give a crap or they expire.

This seems like a nice use for augmented reality. Once we are all wearing Google Glass clones, they could automatically superimpose the decoded QR data next to the code.

If you want me to go to your website, just print your URL. That worked just fine for years.

Otherwise, make them do something useful or GTFO.

Ah, the bi-weekly anti QR-Code rant. QR Codes are amazing, have wonderful potential but are under-utilized at this stage. And just for the record, for everyone who still thinks Japan uses a lot of QR Codes. Just came back from 2 weeks in Singapore. Singapore > Tokyo.

> For some reason, advertisers have put them on posters found in subways and in United Continental’s Hemispheres In-Flight Magazine, places where travelers usually don’t have reception. Such examples have made QR codes the butt of jokes. A blog called WTF QR Code contains photos of poorly placed codes that no one could reasonably be expected to scan, such as on a billboard along the highway or inside a liquor bottle.

That's hilarious! I never even thought of that when I see them on the subway.

One of the biggest problems with QR codes, is the resulting page is typically a standard / flashy desktop site, which isn't optimal for a mobile device. I imagine if the landing page were mobile-optimized (quick information, easy buttons, no zooming), engagement would go up.

It's not really a problem with QR codes, but rather, an execution problem on people mis-firing on how they're used.

No kidding. It's like marketers don't realize QR codes are mainly going to be scanned on phones.

Well... I'm making an assumption here: surely very few people are going to scan QR codes with their laptop's webcam or something. I wonder what fraction of QR code scans are done on an iPad, though, as opposed to something with a pocket-sized screen. I bet that it's well over 90% smartphones, maybe over 98%. But I haven't found any published, quantitative proof of that, so I don't really know.

(Anyone with a QR-code analytics startup reading this? There's a great linkbait blog post idea for you ;-)

Regardless, there's one situation where not having a mobile-friendly destination can make sense:

http://mobilewebup.com/blog/qr-code-always-mobile-landing-pa...

"And smartphone ticketing will get a boost from Apple (AAPL) this fall when the next version of its iPhone operating system is released. The new software includes a feature called Passbook, a digital wallet to store boarding passes, coupons, movie tickets, and gift cards—many of which rely on QR codes."

My iOS app, QRganize (launched Dec. 2011) already fulfills this need.

If you need a QR code to go to a web page, then all the info contained in a QR code is useless. Just show the url and let people scan it or key it in.

If it is an informational site, then wikipedia should develop and encourage the use of a standard wiki url shortener.

If it is a product, companies should also define an easy standard to shorten their products url.

They are useful as a quick way to get to a web page on a device, if there's no short URL.

I don't use marketing QR codes, but I have used them for technical material.

As always, I propose something like a non-for-profit DNS for storing pairs of codes and urls so all apps can access that site for free.

And a simple nomenclature like:

    @ for places like @eiffeltower to http://wikipedia.com/eiffel_tower
    # for products like #mbair565 to http://apple.com/macbookair
    * for everything else like *google to http://google.com

I propose google or wikipedia to take the initiative.

* Or to make it simpler, just use square brackets as scanning delimiters [eiffeltower] [mbair565] [google]

[google] does this go to http//google.com or http://wikipedia.com/Google?

URLs are as expressive as they need to avoid these namespacing issues. A custom system like yours is going to run up against naming collisions very quickly.

One way to fix this is something I did in the poster for my latest show. Put a box around it (like a fieldset) with the caption that explains where the user is going. In my case it said "Scan to Buy Tickets".

Interesting article, it's a shame it references other sites but doesn't include a hyperlink. Shame!

I’m surprised nobody yet posted the obvious http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com

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