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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

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Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#561

Post by RandallBrown »

npteljes wrote: post #371
frockington1 wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you depend so much on push notifications? If you are receiving so many you may want to adjust your settings. It is not good for your mental health nor your productivity to be constantly distracted by notifications on a phone

I don't depend on them but banking apps do, for one, and I'd hate to arrive to a world where the communication channels are all proprietary. In my opinion, protocols should be open, services should be interchangeable. And so push notifications, as a they are means of communication, should be provided as a service so that you could choose providers and such.

I'm not sure I have push notifications turned on for any of my banking apps.

I do get notifications from my banks through text and email.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#562

Post by kerng »

I think online menus are much better and environmentally friendly than physical ones.

Really hope many places just stick with online menu - also allows for quick updates and changes.

If navigating there is done via QR code, NFC or some other means is a different question. but QR codes seem to work really well for this sort of thing and even non tech users can easily figure it out.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#564

Post by whimsicalism »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #372
542354234235 wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somehow I think that a visiting foreigner that can read Chinese to order off a paper menu is probably also going to have a working phone number in China. Someone that can't read Chinese and needs to use their phone for google translate is probably not going to be able to order off a paper menu either.

You’d be surprised how many overseas Chinese (who have immigrated to somewhere else) who are visiting China are trapped by this. And even foreigners who don’t read Chinese can pick out certain characters of the food they like to eat (you don’t need to read Chinese very well to recognize stereotypical 宫保鸡丁). China is really bad at exceptions. Many of those restaurants have gotten rid of their paper menus (which didn’t…

Yes, it is helpful to have cell service, both in China and in the United States.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#565

Post by Camillo »

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 setup seems beneficial to both restaurant owners and customers in China. The faster ordering process saves time for servers, which reduces labor costs, and the savings can be passed on to customers.

But it cannot work in America because of the tipping culture.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#566

Post by giarc »

kerkeslager wrote: post #486
giarc wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect there are things that would improve the experience for everyone. For example, instead of the customer asking "Is X gluten free, is Y gluten free" the online menu could have filters for various allergies etc. Online menus could also offer more pictures, videos of meals, better upsells etc.

Videos of meals? Better upsells? Are you trying to create my personal hell?

:) I could see some features becoming quite annoying, especially if you have to click through a bunch of upsells to finally add item to order. I think places could get creative though, for example leave comments for the chef about the meal, make specific requests which the prep team can respond to, have the chef speak about the daily specials in video rather than have a wait staff regurgitate them after having never tried them.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#567

Post by Camillo »

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…

A related problem with the apps is that they expand the tipping expectation to all sorts of interactions that were not traditionally tipped, such as ordering at a cash register. You don't need to tip someone just because they have an iPad!

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#568

Post by kevinsundar »

greedo wrote: post #518
colinmhayes wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, they did it because it makes it super easy to change the menu. Physical menus rarely change, online menus can change instantly for free.

It's definitely not free when you consider the infrastructure behind providing online menus.

IDK I've been to restaurants where its just a QR code linked to a google drive pdf. Doesn't require much infrastructure there.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#569

Post by twiddling »

conductr wrote: post #501
msrenee wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Why not just bring cash to tip? Or call the restaurant and talk to the manager? We're talking patron UX here and point is I don't what to shoulder the burden. I didn't even want to calculate 15% tip in my head and you want me to start carrying cash everywhere, something I haven't done since Y2K was a concern. Spend 15 minutes waiting for the manager to come over? No thanks. > Not tipping doesn't accomplish anything…

In several states they are. Washington St. doesn't have a lower minimum wage for servers.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#570

Post by RHSeeger »

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

But the negatives are also huge.

- My phone is slow, so it's painful to navigate the menu

- Half the restaurants have horrible UI for their menu

- You can't casually peruse the menu, you have to go item by item down the list.

At least to me, it's an awful experience.

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