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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

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Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#471

Post by [deleted] »

thomascgalvin wrote: post #467
infecto wrote: post #417

It's really interesting to see how a crowd of tech workers who generally are trying to pave the way are so quick to attack and be negative. Like all things in life, when its implemented well it works and when it does not it is terrible. I still think there is room for this to be the future though. I say this as a westerner but perhaps the west is not ready for it yet but I really enjoyed the experience of using QR co…

My big issue, which should be easily correctable, is that every menu QR code I've scanned results in a PDF that I have to download. Nobody wants PDFs. On desktop sites, it's common to add a (PDF Warning) to links that lead to PDFs. And on a phone, PDFs are even worse. They're almost always sized for the desktop, which means you have to pinch and scroll to see anything, and I don't download stuff from Firefox often en…

[deleted]

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#472

Post by antsar »

syshum wrote: post #405
loonster wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely stopped going to restaurants that have those table tablets. It's just too distracting.

hmm, I prefer them. I never liked handing my card to wait staff where they take off somewhere.. I 100% prefer pay at table, and would 100% prefer order at table as well, less chance they get my order wrong

Those tablets range from "large-screen credit card terminal with order entry" to "brightly flashing ad-infested slot machine exploitation box that might let you order food if you figure out how to close the fucking ads. With a cloud-connected webcam, because why not".

Actually, now that I've think of it, I'm not sure I've ever seen the "large-screen credit card terminal with order entry" version in real life.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#473

Post by don-code »

atoav wrote: post #86
dragonwriter wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> First of all it takes a shitton of steps to scan a QR code if you don't have WeChat Not really, on most real devices. > On a default Android device you have to click 7 or 8 times to get into the QR scanner thingy inside Google Lens. Perhaps, on stock Android with no manufacturer special apps. But the Samsung, Google, and LG Camera apps, at least, have “point at a QR code and the camera reads it”, so it takes as man…

Firefox Android can scan directly from the URL bar of a new tab.

This made my day. I always love finding out about super-useful features I wasn't aware of in software I use every day. Thank you!

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#474

Post by msrenee »

conductr wrote: post #422
resonious wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the general topic of "technology in restaurants", I've noticed an increasing number of restaurants where the waitstaff uses phones/tablets with some kind of specialized app. This happens often: we start telling them our order, and they have to say "wait a sec.... (taps phone for several seconds) okay what was that?". The "UX" as a patron is pretty bad compared to the waitstaff just whipping out a notepad and scrib…

My biggest cheapskate-old-man gripe is how the UX as you said is systemically deteriorating in restaurants yet the tip expectations have creeped up from 15% standard to now 25% default. And, all apps that compute tip % or recommended tip amounts tip on top of tax, which really irks me as just a dark pattern to rip off patrons and inflate the tip amount. This is US tipping culture at absolute worse. I hold at 15% stan…

You're not really voicing your dissent at that point. The server gets no tip and doesn't get any indication why. Why not just bring cash to tip? Or call the restaurant and talk to the manager? Not tipping doesn't accomplish anything and the server who has no control over the system and is already underpaid gets screwed over.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#475

Post by datavirtue »

alisonatwork wrote: post #464
infecto wrote: post #417

It's really interesting to see how a crowd of tech workers who generally are trying to pave the way are so quick to attack and be negative. Like all things in life, when its implemented well it works and when it does not it is terrible. I still think there is room for this to be the future though. I say this as a westerner but perhaps the west is not ready for it yet but I really enjoyed the experience of using QR co…

This process was one of my most hated "innovations" in food ordering in China. It turns every restaurant into a production line fast food operation, exactly like American chain restaurants. At that point, why even bother going to a restaurant at all? Might as well just order a Sysco-equivalent microwave meal at the supermarket or 7/11, because the flavor and the service will be exactly the same. For me the best resta…

Yeah, QR code menus are superior, until you have to use them. They never have instructions and every device does it differently and not in obvious ways. The only instructions you get from a stressed out server is "just scan it." Ok, how?

This is a great way of making tech look stupid to luddites and it reminds me of modern UX trends that expect people to just know how to do some mysterious thing--and developers rely on most users assuming they are the stupid ones because they don't know how to use an app's hidden functionality. Not. Accessible.

Every restaurant used to have the same UX, now they are all different. Stupid.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#476

Post by Tor3 »

monkeynotes wrote: post #321
Karrot_Kream wrote: post #8

I gotta say, I disagree with this piece. I, for one, love QR code menus. I can pinch zoom rather than squint at a menu with small/unreadable fonts in dim lighting. I don't need to badger the already exhausted wait staff on a busy night when they forget to drop us a menu or two. When orders are taken online, rather than awkwardly force a friend to not go to the bathroom (or take their kid to the bathroom) until a serv…

Wait, restaurants are making you order from an app too?? So now you don't really need your 'exhausted wait staff' so much. Hire less wait staff as a portion are now are underutilized. Now some wait staff have no jobs, and the remainder work the same exhausting shifts. The reason these wait staff get tips is because they work so hard, with less service comes less tips. Now you have a whole industry of overworked AND u…

"Wait, restaurants are making you order from an app too?? So now you don't really need your 'exhausted wait staff' so much. Hire less wait staff as a portion are now are underutilized. Now some wait staff have no jobs, and the remainder work the same exhausting shifts. "

Not around here, no. Was out eating yesterday. That place we went to has the exact same number of wait staff as before QR codes, the difference is only that they're not exhausted, they are not stressed when interacting with us (showing us the table, bringing food, checking in on us if we need something else, etc). We don't have to wait for them to get the bill or to pay. The overall atmosphere is much more relaxed now. And yes the other places I visit also keep the same number of staff as before, as far as I can tell.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#477

Post by jxidjhdhdhdhfhf »

At my local watering hole, I love the new post-COVID ordering process. You scan the QR code, place your order on their website and they bring it straight to your table. IMO as someone who has been a server, it's better for the servers too because they don't have to take orders from customers (the most painful part of the process).

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#478

Post by jscheel »

datavirtue wrote: post #475
alisonatwork wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This process was one of my most hated "innovations" in food ordering in China. It turns every restaurant into a production line fast food operation, exactly like American chain restaurants. At that point, why even bother going to a restaurant at all? Might as well just order a Sysco-equivalent microwave meal at the supermarket or 7/11, because the flavor and the service will be exactly the same. For me the best resta…

Yeah, QR code menus are superior, until you have to use them. They never have instructions and every device does it differently and not in obvious ways. The only instructions you get from a stressed out server is "just scan it." Ok, how? This is a great way of making tech look stupid to luddites and it reminds me of modern UX trends that expect people to just know how to do some mysterious thing--and developers rely…

It's also super fun to download a 45mb menu on your cellular data plan every time you want to look at the menu.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#479

Post by datavirtue »

eCa wrote: post #352
carschno wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fully agree with the addition that personal interaction can make waiting for 15 minutes acceptable if a reasonable explanation is given. I can accept that something has gone wrong if somebody feels responsible and apologizes for the mishap. It might even develop into an occasion for a welcome chat with restaurant staff. For instance, I recently visited a newly opened restaurant at its 2nd day where we had to wait f…

> I fully agree with the addition that personal interaction can make waiting for 15 minutes acceptable if a reasonable explanation is given. Absolutely. In this case however, there were multiple waiters refusing eye contact while passing right by our table and there were also other tables right by ours that got there after us and was being taken care of. It was as if we weren’t there.

Toxic culture with no team work. You were in someone else's section. You weren't in a restaurant but at a feeding trough.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#480

Post by Grustaf »

infecto wrote: post #417

It's really interesting to see how a crowd of tech workers who generally are trying to pave the way are so quick to attack and be negative. Like all things in life, when its implemented well it works and when it does not it is terrible. I still think there is room for this to be the future though. I say this as a westerner but perhaps the west is not ready for it yet but I really enjoyed the experience of using QR co…

That's a bit like saying "why bother serving wine from bottles with impractical corks, each table should just have a wine hose with a tap". Going to a restaurant is an experience. A waiter, a physical menu and lots of other inefficiencies are part of that experience.
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