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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

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Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#491

Post by infecto »

andrepd wrote: post #455
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…

> The benefits to me of not having physical menus is huge. "Huge" might be a bit of an overstatement relating to such a minor convenience.

So you are speaking for my opinions and feelings now? Y'all are crazy.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#492

Post by dmurray »

Kaze404 wrote: post #462
melomal wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's odd because it almost seems like a middle ground of having both options is unacceptable. It's chalk and cheese, black or white. You can literally have both physical and digital menu's and cater to everyone's needs. No harm done. People who loathe the idea can carry on, people that love the idea can carry on.

Having both could cause issues, as the digital menu is much easier to update than the physical one, which can lead to inconsistencies. Not that it means it shouldn't be an option, it's just something that needs to be considered

Inconsistency between the digital and physical menu isn't really the problem. We care more about consistency between either menu and the single source of truth, which is what the chef is able to prepare today.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#493

Post by samstave »

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…

A little while ago, I was making labels for cannabis products. All cannabis products need to be tested by a lab to show their constituent properties (pesticides, THC, CDB, etc)

One of the things I did was create a QR code on the labels such that they pointed to a bitly address which then redirected to the PDF of the lab results for each product.

This allowed for the consumer to actually read the Lab results, and it provided an litmus to the interest in each product by count of scans.

I loved it, it worked really well - but the company wasnt too fond of showing the direct lab results for the reason that the PDFs had the manufacturing facilities address on the PDF...

Could have done it better, but the overall idea was sound and was very easy to implement. An admin assistant could build this out.

Thought of also tying it to slack or something such that we could just have a product interest channel and get an alert any time the products were scanned into that channel...

There were actually a number of creative things that could be done using QR codes.

This is great for very small packaged goods, such as pre-rolls, wax, diamonds, etc - where you have very little space on the package, and are already regulated on exactly what information you must include on the packaging, so if you wanted to provide more detailed product info, this would work well..

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#494

Post by basisword »

kerkeslager wrote: post #483
basisword wrote: post #382

Really didn’t take us long to get back to our first world problems did it? As with most tech things the QR menus work well when they’re implemented well and poorly when they’re implanted poorly. Multi-language support (without having to print menus in lots of languages that might not get used) is something I’ve seen in a few places. There is also the opportunity to make them a more accessible option if done right. It…

Ah yes, the "accessibility" of a $200+ smartphone. $500+ if you actually want it to come with a working ad-free QR reader preinstalled.

82% of the population in the UK own a smartphone. On top of that, if you don’t have one, no restaurant is denying you service.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#495

Post by [deleted] »

fouric wrote: post #470
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…

> 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. This statement is utterly useless. It provides no value to the discussion, doesn't make any interesting points, and tries to emotionally manipulate the reader. > Like all things in life, when its implemented well it works and when it does not it is terrible. HN readers seem to…

[deleted]

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#496

Post by sanderjd »

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…

I don't understand the "now they're all different" facet of this. In my experience during the pandemic, they are all the same, just in a way that is not discoverable, as you point out. But after the first time I realized I just needed to open my camera app to make it work, it became a really nice experience. There is a balance here - discoverability is good until it becomes clutter because nobody needs to discover it anymore because it is commonplace, and symmetrically a mechanism that is quick and easy but lacks discoverability is bad until it becomes commonplace and second nature. A great example of this is the mechanisms to open camera apps on phones (which this QR menu thing builds on!): there is no way to discover that I need to press my power button twice to open my camera, but once I know this and it is second nature, there is absolutely no better way to accomplish that task.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#497

Post by kerkeslager »

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…

> 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.

It's really interesting to see how a different crowd to tech workers who are constantly in contact with the myriad of ways in which technology can be harmful to human interaction and happiness can be so quick to downplay any legitimate criticisms.

> Go to a restaurant I just get shown where to sit and don't need to waste time with the host/server giving me menus or telling me anything.

...in which you view a human being as a hurdle to be surpassed rather than a human being.

Conversations with waitstaff are often some of the most rewarding parts of a restaurant experience. Even just focusing on the food, the best way to find out about dishes you haven't tried is by talking to waitstaff. And I've formed great friendships with waitstaff at places I go regularly.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#498

Post by infecto »

samstave wrote: post #493
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…

A little while ago, I was making labels for cannabis products. All cannabis products need to be tested by a lab to show their constituent properties (pesticides, THC, CDB, etc) One of the things I did was create a QR code on the labels such that they pointed to a bitly address which then redirected to the PDF of the lab results for each product. This allowed for the consumer to actually read the Lab results, and it p…

I love this. It reminds me of transparency from amazon. Products have a QR code on the outside of the packaging to have some minimal effort prevention on counterfeits. Includes some metadata like manufacturing date and location.

https://brandservices.amazon.com/transparency

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#499

Post by denysvitali »

sksksk wrote: post #129

When they work well, they're really good, but when they work badly, they're _really_ bad. The other week, I went for dinner at a place that had a online ordering system. My experience was as follows... Arrive at the table, scan the QR code No phone signal in the restaurant, so I need to connect to the wifi. Connect to the wifi, get a captive portal Need to put my phone number in to connect to the wifi; there is no si…

Had a similar experience: this awesome takeaway / pizza place had an ordering system completely online, great!

The only downside? After deciding what to eat, adding the table number and pressing "order"... you discover that you can only pay by credit card (I mostly use debit).

No option to pay in cash. I had to go to the cashier, re-order everything, tell her my table number and pay in cash.

Not that huge of a deal, first world problems, but still - they could have stated right away the payment methods for the online thing.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#500

Post by infecto »

kerkeslager wrote: post #497
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…

> 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. It's really interesting to see how a different crowd to tech workers who are constantly in contact with the myriad of ways in which technology can be harmful to human interaction and happiness can be so quick to downplay any legitimate criticisms. > Go to a restaurant I just ge…

For sure, I guess for me there is a time and place. Sometimes I am eating because I am hungry and sometimes I eat for the experience. For the former I like the idea of using a QR code. I never had troubles in China talking about the food when I used a QR code. I don't have romantic ideas about it though, I still was able to interact with the owners or wait stuff just as easily. Reminded me of the use of vending machine tickets in Japanese mom and pop restaurants.
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