Digby Digital Blog

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A Study of QR Codes in the Real World

The previous article looked at the explosion of QR barcodes and whether they’re just a fad or something that’s likely to stick around for a while. Over the past week I’ve been taking a closer look at QR codes around Bristol and Bath, seeing how they work in the real world. Below are some of the more interesting examples I came across, and looking at what worked and what didn’t. 

Ten points to Betfair for originality on this one. This strategic placing of the code means that it could only be realistically scanned from a newspaper photograph taken of the back of the bikini. Though it’s more likely that the code is a clever marketing stunt to generate talk about the brand, which worked fantastically. 

Tinc is a funky stationary company, with these barcodes taken from their outlet in Bath. They have also tried to tie in their marketing campaign based on competition between stationary colours with QR codes. It’s a great idea that unfortunately falls down in its implementation. The blue, pink and especially grey barcodes have such a low contrast ratio that they are very hard to scan with most readers. On the website the poll ratings for different colours are closely related to the ease of scanning too. Yet with a bit of refinement it would make for an interesting, original use of QR codes.

Tinc's 'Follow Us on Twitter' QR code is simple with a great design however.

Here’s another novel use of QR codes, placed on a billboard for a new commercial development. It’s a bit tricky to scan, but when done, links to a webpage containing all sorts of useful information about the building a potential tenant would want to know. I saw another one of these by the same company in Bristol, but the billboard was placed on the side of a high-rise building. So unless you’re this guy you’re going to find it pretty tricky to scan.

This QR code for The Weymouth Seaside Express is placed on a platform at Bristol Temple Meads station, and is noticeably huge. The code directs to an easy-to-use, mobile optimised site providing genuinely useful information about the trip. A great example of an effective QR code, except that it could probably do with being reduced in size a bit, blighting an otherwise attractive poster.

First Great Western, you were so close but so far! A great idea, instead of looking for and browsing through a complicated timetable, a QR code that directs you to an online link instead. However when scanned it takes you to a pdf document (which in the case of the London to Paddington timetable consisted of 89 pages!). Massively complicated to navigate, takes up loads of bandwidth, and harder to use then the regular timetable. With a mobile optimised, searchable page this would be a great tool, but for now is pointless.

The Metro is full of QR codes, I counted seven in today’s edition and they have been pushing their own version lately, though is there any point?  The paper is primarily read by commuters, either on the bus or train. Now there are not many train services that have any sort of reliable internet connection, making accessing the link pretty tricky. My page was loading very slowly until we went under a tunnel and lost all connection. Heaven help people trying it out on the Tube. When you do have a bit of internet, the code simply takes you to a non-mobile optimised version of The Metro homepage, with mostly the same articles that were in the paper you just read. Baffling.

Organisations seem to plonk QR barcodes onto their media without much of a thought about the customer journey. Others such as Weymouth Seaside Express have obviously thought about how to best implement the codes and it works. Betfair used QR codes as a way of generating talk about their brand, with massive success.

 A universal theme was the dull design of the codes. Not a single one of the 21 codes scanned during the week had any design alterations (apart from colour on two of them) with some Photoshop skills you can make something look funky and have brand identity.

What examples have you seen of codes that work well or don’t? There’s a big white space below where you can tell us.

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Are QR barcodes here to stay?

QR barcodes are now a familiar site on almost every media type imaginable. Initially these strange looking squares were primarily spotted on flyers and posters, where now they can be found plastered onto train timetables, café menus, TV adverts, even projected onto walls.

Being very simple to use, with plenty of free generators available and stacks of free QR reader apps, it’s easy to see why codes are being so widely adopted. However are they a permanent presence in our lives or just another gimmick soon to be superseded by something else?

There are several issues with QR barcodes that hinder their usability. Touted as an easy way to quickly take you to online content, using them is often more laborious than simply typing the address yourself, especially now that there is a wide availability of customisable URL shorteners. I timed how long it took to unlock my phone, open the app and scan the code, a total of just over 14 seconds, which is comparable to just Googling the brand.

QR codes aren’t the best looking images to place on a carefully designed poster, looking more than a bit like the background fuzz of an un-tuned TV and to be easily read the codes take up a lot of valuable room. Yet designers are getting to grips with how to make them look just a bit more stylish. With around a 30% error rate, so you can have a good play around with the design without hindering readability. Yet an unscientific study of my commute through Bristol shows that about 95% of QR barcodes are still of the digital zebra looking variety.

Are QR barcodes just a stopgap until the inevitable onslaught of augmented reality priming to overlay our lives? New apps such as Google Goggles, Aurasma, Layar and NFC provide massively innovative features making the codes look about as hi-tech as a Nokia 3410. Though these are expensive and complicated systems to implement, whereas all you need to set up a QR barcode is a computer and printer. QR codes were said to be on their death knell after Google dropped support for them from their Places application, but they have recently acquired the QR code based startup Punchd – signalling that they can exist side by side with other technologies.

It looks like QR codes are definitely around for at least the time being, at least until smartphones are powerful and prevalent enough for augmented reality systems to truly take off. They certainly have their downsides, being not as quick and easy to use as they are made out to – and are mostly ugly. This is likely to improve as scanners are implemented directly into phones hardware, and designers get to grips on how to make them more attractive. They provide an excellent way for small businesses to provide digital content, with services such as Punchd allowing them to be used as a loyalty service. 

For a quick, cheap way to link the physical to the online space QR codes are fantastic, but as image recognition, augmented reality and NFC improve, expect them to fade away.