Tag: qr codes

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Wagamama QR Code

This is another one of those mainstream uses of QR Codes that fails to deliver for the consumer.

Regular readers of the blog will know that I have been noting where I have seen QR Codes in the mainstream, in other words in the places regular people will see and use them.

This particular QR Code was in the noodle restaurant chain of Wagamama. It was a link to make a group booking.

As with many mainstream companies the link goes to their full website and not a mobile optimised version. You have to work out which link to click…

Then you need to fill out a form.

Which is quite long and complicated and not that easy to fill in using a mobile device…

It would appear that Wagamama like a lot of companies using QR Codes are failing to realise that people who scan in QR Codes are scanning them in from their smartphones and as a result the web page they are directed to needs to be optimised for the mobile browser. Though Mobile Safari is pretty good at rendering full size websites and the browsing experience isn’t that bad, a mobile version of the full website is normally a much better experience.

A good example of how it can work better is the QR Code used on a BBC cooking programme, though the QR Code wasn’t on screen for very long!

What the Wagamama experience shows is once more that QR Codes are been used because they are “cool” and “trendy” or they are responding to advice from a “consultant” of some kind. It would appear that actual process from start to finish and when I say finish I mean going pass that initial URL that the QR Code sends you to and then trying to book, enter or whatever you are suppose to do hasn’t actually been tested or carried out by “normal” people. What might be even more worrying is that testing had actually been done and the process was considered to be “normal” and “okay” as the users hadn’t experienced anything different!

What I actually think this means that though the mobile web is here and is been used by lots of people, there are still many companies who don’t actually realise that!

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QR Codes on the Train


Travelling back from London I found on the back of the seat reservation cards on the First Great Western train I was a QR Code competition (or draw).

I didn’t actually notice them until I was getting off the train, the main reason they’re on the back and I was sitting at one of those rare table seats so didn’t have the back of the reservation card facing me.

You’re not really suppose to remove them I guess, so you’ll probably spend time trying to scan it in from your seat with the person sitting in front of you wondering what on earth is going on!

So quite a nice idea really by FGW, scan in the QR code and enter the competition, but alas the execution failed really!

Rather than use a QR code to create a text message it was only an URL which then sent you to a standard web page (not mobile optimised) which you then needed to fill in all the details.

It’s obviously not really a competition, more a draw to gather in personal information to send you loads of marketing materials. I don’t have much of a problem with that as you don’t have to enter and that’s all competitions are really, a way of gathering data.

However I couldn’t really see the benefit of using a QR code here, the point of a QR Code is to reduce or replace the need to enter text using a mobile device. However in this case the text you needed to enter (even the bare minimum) on the web form was way more than if you decided not to enter via QR Code and use the SMS entry details. It also assumes that you have 3G access on the train (no wifi with FGW) and that is most certainly not always the case.

This really was a pointless exercise in many respects and really missing an opportunity to take advantage of what QR codes can offer. To prove a point, this is one I created which will allow you to send an SMS just by scanning the code.

You won’t need to add any more information (in theory you need to add your e-mail address) and FGW will then get your entry and your mobile number; so they can then start sending you marketing SMS text messages.

As for the competition and the prize? Well if you do enter and win, you win an Amazon Kindle. Nice I guess as it is a great device… however when will you know you’ve won?

So the 8th August 2012, nearly a year away, by which time there will be new and different devices available.

As you will realise if you read this blog on a regular basis that we are seeing more and more QR codes in the mainstream, both media and corporates are using them, in the main for marketing purposes. However the execution of them is in many ways poor and done without thinking about the end user trying to scan and use them.

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QR Codes on Platform 2


I am now seeing QR Codes more and more in what I would call the mainstream. My most recent observation was at my local railway station (managed by First Great Western) where I was checking the timetable and noticed the QR Code in the corner.

Looking at it in more detail, I just had to scan it in, well one does these kinds of things…

I use Optiscan on the iPhone as I have found it to be very reliable and certainly on the 3GS was the best option I found. The reason I like Optiscan is that it works nearly every time.

Of course all a QR Code is, is a shortened URL and no matter how easy it is to scan in with the phone, the key, the end result is how does the final web page look on your mobile device.

I wasn’t that impressed with the landing page as I had to click a link to actually get the timetable.

I am pretty sure that FGW have done that because the timetables change, but even if that was the case, they would also need to reprint the printed version so could then print a new QR Code. Another reason might be to gather stats from the landing page. The actual digital timetable was in PDF format and was usable on the iPhone.

However given the choice I think I would probably use the Train Times App (also available on Android) which also gives live travel information so you know if your train has been cancelled. The problem with a PDF timetable is that it won’t account for live changes to the timetable, you could certainly have a QR code on a printed timetable linking to a live timetable, and I think FGW should have done that.

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QR Code Vino




So are QR Codes going mainstream?

A few weeks back I mentioned how I had seen one for the first time on mainstream television. Now as I was opening a bottle of red wine (present from a friend) I noticed the QR Code on the back of the bottle.

I have found in the past that the iPhone is not the best phone for reading QR Codes and in the end I found that the best QR Code application was Optiscan.

Optiscan lets you create, scan and share QR codes straight from your device.

Having tried a few free apps, I found that if you have an iPhone 3GS then this app works the best. As the camera in the iPhone 4 is better, you can have more success with some of the free apps, however (as I have it already) I use Optiscan on my iPhone 4. I like how fast it is, how it can capture virtually all QR Codes I aim it at and the subsquent actions I can then take. For example it is very easy to e-mail my history of scans so I can use them on a desktop computer.

So though I have had very few issues with Optiscan with other QR Codes, I did find scanning the QR Code on the bottle quite a challenge. It took a fair few attempts to get it captured, but once I did it bought up a URL which then opened in the mobile browser.

Impressed it was a mobile version of the website and in French!

However one click and I was in the English version.

Now there wasn’t much on the site, no more than was on the bottle really.

However at least if I wanted to buy the wine myself I now had a record of it on my phone. Much easier with a QR Code than typing in an URL on the phone (which to be honest is the point of QR Codes really).

So that’s a TV programme on cooking, a bottle of red wine, wondering where my next encounter with a QR Code will be!

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QR Code on the telly

So there I was watching a cookery programme when up popped a QR code. Though I have seen them on the telly before, this was the first time I think I have seen one on a “normal” mainstream programme rather than your typical tech news or geek style show.

The programme was a mainstream BBC One early evening choice, so it would have hit a fair few viewers.

You would need to be either watching it recorded or on iPlayer or always have your phone’s QR Code reader ready to capture the code. I checked out how it worked using Optiscan on my iPhone and it (usefully) went to the mobile version of the website for the recipe.

One of the nice features of Optiscan (and other QR Code readers) is that I can then e-mail the link to myself so if necessary I can open the relevant link in my computer’s browser.

So are these QR Codes now mainstream?

Of course QR Codes are quite an old technology and more intelligent smartphone apps can now recognise that you are watching television and bring up the relevant content just by listening to the soundtrack. They compare the sound signature to a library and then connect with relevant content.

Likewise for other uses of QR Codes location awareness and image recognition of real things mean that it is possible to get content just by either taking a photograph or just by your phone knowing where it is.