When QR Codes Go Wrong

by david

Due to the enormous growth of mobile barcode technology, thousands of marketers are turning to QR codes to engage with their audience. While great news, we’ve found that many codes are providing a poor user experience simply because the codes were published incorrectly. Some codes are not scanning at all, making them useless and discouraging to potential customers. As a perfect example of “when QR codes go wrong”, we were sent a recent issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Inside just one section alone, we spotted three different cases where each of the marketers published a QR code that didn’t even work! To help you avoid this issue, let’s take a quick look at what these particular codes did wrong; - Lack of Quiet Space: Every QR Code should be surrounded by at least 2 module sizes of "quiet" or "white" space (modules are the tiny black squares within the code).  The code below lacked this requirement, and was unable to scan as a result. - Too Much Density: It’s critical to ensure that your code isn’t too dense. Density becomes a concern when your code includes lots of data and is shrunk down to a smaller size. The code gets too cluttered in a small amount of space, which makes it more difficult or in this case, impossible to read.    - Poor Dimensions: A QR code has to be square. It cannot be circular, triangular, or anything in between. Square or bust, period. All of these issues are common risks when using free generators because you lack consistency and quality control over your codes. Just remember, whatever code generator you choose, please, please (please) test it first across several apps and devices. Merely one bad user experience can turn a customer off QR codes forever! So consider these tips as step 1-A of “QR Codes 101”, as the single most important thing to remember is “does the code work?”