4 ms·

I feel like QR codes failed as a general UI tool. I get annoyed whenever I have to deal with one. They wee HUGE about 10 years ago. Now, not so much.

jclem 6y ago
I don’t know about other places, but they’re getting a lot of use in NYC right now as a method for viewing restaurant menus for outdoor dining.
- carlmr 6y ago
  Same in Germany. Also for payment with WeChat in China.
  - akritrime 6y ago
    It is big for payments in India too.
- nwsm 6y ago
  They also inspired similar usage for looking up a profile/resource in Snapchat, Spotify, Venmo, etc.
- social_quotient 6y ago
  Here (Austin) it’s used in movie theaters that had seat food ordering and I gotta say thee execution is flawless now that the camera has a built in QR. I think if QR could start over again and have support from the camera without the user needing to figure an app to use/get etc. things might have been different.
- frogpelt 6y ago
  I went to a restaurant the other day and it had one of those Coke Freestyle soda machines. There was a QR code on the screen which I scanned with my phone. This opened a website with drink choices. I put my cup under the dispenser and pushed the Barq's Root Beer button on the website on my phone which dispensed the drink from the machine.
3np 6y ago
In Paris, most restaurants I visited recently have now done away with paper menus due to COVID and instead have QR codes on each table for the menus. Also Japan, being one of the earliest adopters, is still big on QR codes. And of course anything involving mobile and cryptocurrency transactions. And mobile payments in most of South and South East Asia.
mcintyre1994 6y ago
I find them pretty easy to deal with now, they used to be annoying when you needed a specific app to scan them though.
fakedang 6y ago
I love QR codes, mostly because they are in-app now, and not restricted to one app or one company. The convenience is too good.
nacs 6y ago
Apple is coming out with it's own version soon that should be popular (at least with iOS people): https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/18/ios-14-leak-apple-qr-codes/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/18/ios-14-leak-apple-qr-co...
psychanarch 6y ago
I agreed with this take until 2020 and subsequent shutdowns of varying levels occurred in my U.S. state (Oregon) due to Covid-19. There are several eateries in my city utilizing them to great effect for menus and ordering as they have pivoted to outdoor and no-touch dining. And now that I have finally embraced them on this level, I notice and use them more: flyers around town, links to video tutorials on products I have purchased, local printed media, etc.
vekker 6y ago
Really? I think they are quite a success, especially for making payments easy, for example
cik 6y ago
That depends on where you are. Here every billboard and its cousin have a QR code. So does the beer at the local gas station.
chansiky 6y ago
How so? They are effectively a `<link/>` IRL. I would say the UX is pretty good. I don't know how much easier it can get than pulling out your camera then taking a picture using the camera app.
parliament32 6y ago
Their use has exploded since Covid in dense cities: I regularly have to use them to fill out pre-screening forms for facilities ("do you have symptoms X or have been in contact..."), see restaurant menus, pay bills (receipt at a restaurant has a QR code printed on the bottom, link to an online checkout on your phone, so you don't have to handle the POS machine), etc.

jclem 6y ago

I don’t know about other places, but they’re getting a lot of use in NYC right now as a method for viewing restaurant menus for outdoor dining.

carlmr 6y ago
Same in Germany. Also for payment with WeChat in China.
- akritrime 6y ago
  It is big for payments in India too.
nwsm 6y ago
They also inspired similar usage for looking up a profile/resource in Snapchat, Spotify, Venmo, etc.
social_quotient 6y ago
Here (Austin) it’s used in movie theaters that had seat food ordering and I gotta say thee execution is flawless now that the camera has a built in QR. I think if QR could start over again and have support from the camera without the user needing to figure an app to use/get etc. things might have been different.
frogpelt 6y ago
I went to a restaurant the other day and it had one of those Coke Freestyle soda machines. There was a QR code on the screen which I scanned with my phone. This opened a website with drink choices. I put my cup under the dispenser and pushed the Barq's Root Beer button on the website on my phone which dispensed the drink from the machine.

3np 6y ago

In Paris, most restaurants I visited recently have now done away with paper menus due to COVID and instead have QR codes on each table for the menus. Also Japan, being one of the earliest adopters, is still big on QR codes. And of course anything involving mobile and cryptocurrency transactions. And mobile payments in most of South and South East Asia.

mcintyre1994 6y ago

I find them pretty easy to deal with now, they used to be annoying when you needed a specific app to scan them though.

fakedang 6y ago

I love QR codes, mostly because they are in-app now, and not restricted to one app or one company. The convenience is too good.

nacs 6y ago

Apple is coming out with it's own version soon that should be popular (at least with iOS people): https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/18/ios-14-leak-apple-qr-codes/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/18/ios-14-leak-apple-qr-co...

psychanarch 6y ago

I agreed with this take until 2020 and subsequent shutdowns of varying levels occurred in my U.S. state (Oregon) due to Covid-19. There are several eateries in my city utilizing them to great effect for menus and ordering as they have pivoted to outdoor and no-touch dining. And now that I have finally embraced them on this level, I notice and use them more: flyers around town, links to video tutorials on products I have purchased, local printed media, etc.

vekker 6y ago

Really? I think they are quite a success, especially for making payments easy, for example

cik 6y ago

That depends on where you are. Here every billboard and its cousin have a QR code. So does the beer at the local gas station.

chansiky 6y ago

How so? They are effectively a `<link/>` IRL. I would say the UX is pretty good. I don't know how much easier it can get than pulling out your camera then taking a picture using the camera app.

parliament32 6y ago

Their use has exploded since Covid in dense cities: I regularly have to use them to fill out pre-screening forms for facilities ("do you have symptoms X or have been in contact..."), see restaurant menus, pay bills (receipt at a restaurant has a QR code printed on the bottom, link to an online checkout on your phone, so you don't have to handle the POS machine), etc.