On QR Codes.

QR codes are a sloppy hack.

By which I mean, QR codes attempt to confront the serious issue of building a digital experience that interacts directly with physical reality, and valiantly fail.

(I do not like QR codes.)

The most common use of QR codes is to kick to a URL. Letting people do this by snapping a photo makes sense, but so does a short, memorable URL. Or a series of well thought out search ad buys.

QR codes would still be the better solution, assuming they pushed the user to a meaningful, mobile optimized experience. Even then, the experience would need to have utility related to the environment it would be accessed - standing next to a poster.

Otherwise search or URL is still likely a better approach.

But my core issue with QR codes it this: because creating the code is low-to-no-cost, people use it mostly to create inferior digital experiences.

The most common use I see in the wild is pushing to a standard site, or a non-mobile-formatted contest site. And I understand why: someone says ‘we need a digital element’, and there’s no budget left, and…

But it’s garbage. It’s the same garbage that happened when agencies and corporations first became aware of social, saw that facebook was free to build a page on, and went to town, happily declaring they could do this on the cheap.

And that caused serious issues, for anyone trying to build serious social strategies and campaigns.

I hate QR codes, because they are going to turn people against the physicalization of internet experiences, before Near Field Communication adoption reaches a point where it will let us change how people have mobile interactive experiences.