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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

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Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#571

Post by dec0dedab0de »

I recently went on a date and had to explain to the waiter that we are old, and it's going to take us a while. Which was funny, but I don't have a QR reader on my phone, and I wasn't going to haphazardly install something at a restaurant just to see the whiskey menu.

Luckily, my non-technical date had a mainstream phone that came with a QR reader. Using it redirected her to a word doc hosted on a google drive. And there was no link to this word doc on the restaurants official website.

If you're going to do QR codes, the menu should be available from the website, there should be a printed url under the QR code, and it should be an actual webpage. Preferably lightweight static html.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#572

Post by paiute »

sdevonoes wrote: post #445
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…

Main downside: I don't always take my phone with me. I don't hate QR code, but adding a "backup" menu that is accessible without phones is a must I believe.

this whole pandemic thing really worried me. I leave my phone at home on purpose all the time. I really struggled with everything from food to doctors. phones are becoming a requirement.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#573

Post by rytcio »

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 current state of tech is pretty horrible. The web is a terrible platform for how it is being used today. There is little to no innovation happening anymore, and everything driven purely by advertisements and user-hostile practices to increase revenue over usability. It's very difficult to not be pessimistic about tech.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#574

Post by alisonatwork »

cddotdotslash wrote: post #559
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…

How does ordering via QR code change the quality of the food itself? Just because you clicked a button to order the food instead of telling a server what you want who then wrote it in a notebook and went back to a terminal to enter it, should not have any bearing on how the food tastes.

The QR code doesn't change the quality of the food. It's just a correlation that the restaurants that moved to a QR code ordering system tended to also be the ones that hired kids who didn't much care about cooking, and who just produced the same bland dish every time, regardless of who was ordering.

I do my best to eat plant-based most of the time, so I always appreciate when I can have a chat to the cook or server to see what is in the dish and if they can avoid garnishing with ground pork or whatever. To me that's the whole point of going to a restaurant, to have someone cook for you personally. If you're just going to get a production line meal, then you might as well order from a vending machine or get a meal to go from a convenience store. No judgment on those meals, they are fine too, but when I go to a restaurant I expect a bit more of a personalized service.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#575

Post by asdff »

cddotdotslash wrote: post #559
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…

How does ordering via QR code change the quality of the food itself? Just because you clicked a button to order the food instead of telling a server what you want who then wrote it in a notebook and went back to a terminal to enter it, should not have any bearing on how the food tastes.

What changes is you no longer have a customer service rep on the line, which is what you de facto have with a server at your table. I could ask them questions about all sorts of specific ingredients on the menu so I end up guessing nothing about what I am ordering. For online menus, sometimes you take a shot into the dark because you can't get any description on the item besides "89. - Orange chicken" or however it comes up on the online menu. Does it come with rice? How big is the portion? Who knows.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#576

Post by kn0where »

Grustaf wrote: post #484
syshum wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

So you trust them to cook your food, but you are worried they will take off with your card? Do you live in a first world country or a failed state?

Some would argue the US is both.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#577

Post by shkkmo »

infecto wrote: post #500
kerkeslager wrote: post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 machi…

I see any system that requires people to have and use a smart phone to be negative for inclusivity and accessibility. Use this technology for progessive enhancement, not as a replacement.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#578

Post by Sevii »

Took my grandparents out to lunch last week and they were literally incapable of using the QR codes. Technology has advanced to the point where they can't even read the menus at restaurants because they don't have smartphones.

Luckily restaurants have paper menus as backups.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#579

Post by buu700 »

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…

This was exactly my experience as well when I recently went to some restaurants for the first time since pre-pandemic.

GP's experience sounds great; an interactive mobile/responsive website that I can directly order from would be more convenient than the traditional experience. PDFs are basically fine, but given the option I'd rather have a physical menu.

(Thankfully, I haven't yet heard of or encountered a QR code that redirected me to an app; that would be a pretty quick way to make me leave if no alternative were provided.)

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#580

Post by conductr »

twiddling wrote: post #569
conductr wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I've visited and really enjoyed that model. I'm in Texas and we're not progressive at all in this realm; or many other realms when comparing to a progressive state like Washington.
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