Common mistakes with QR codes in exhibitions
Short summary
A QR code alone is not enough. Typical problems include small codes, poor contrast, slow pages, long text, missing languages and no visitor measurement.
- keep the code at eye or hand level
- test scanning from a normal distance
- avoid spots with glare
A small or badly placed QR code
Visitors must be able to scan the code without awkward bending and without glare. If it is too low, too high, too far away or on a glossy material, some people give up before they reach the content.
- keep the code at eye or hand level
- test scanning from a normal distance
- avoid spots with glare
No reason to scan
A bare square is not enough. Next to the QR code, say what visitors will get: audio interpretation on their phone, photos of how the place used to look or the next part of the route. Visitors need to know it is not a random advertising link.
- name the benefit of scanning
- say that no app is needed
- explain the whole route at the entrance
The page is not ready for mobile
Visitors expect a fast page with clear content. Large photos, small type and long catalogue paragraphs reduce the chance that they read the interpretation. A QR guide should be designed for the phone, not as a shrunken desktop website.
- fast loading over mobile data
- larger type and short paragraphs
- thumb-friendly buttons
The content just repeats the sign
If the QR code opens the same text that already hangs next to the object, visitors have no reason to use it. A digital guide should add something: audio, video, a detail photo, a map to the next stop or another language.
- an extended story
- audio for comfortable listening
- a gallery of details
Missing language versions
On visitor routes, in museums and at castles, multiple languages are often a bigger benefit than the technology itself. One QR code can serve local and international visitors without the institution printing several boards.
- language choice right at the start
- the same content structure in every language
- links checked in every language version
The QR code leads to an unstable or outdated URL
A QR code should point to a stable address. When the text changes, a video is added or a language is edited, the sign should stay the same. If the URL changes with every edit, links break and reprinting gets expensive.
- a stable URL for each stop
- content management without replacing signs
- redirects when old addresses change
Nobody tracks the results
Without statistics you do not know whether people use the codes. Data shows popular stops as well as places where visitors overlook the content. For an interactive guide, measurement is the difference between a one-off installation and a route that keeps improving.
- views per stop
- most used languages
- weak spots on the route
Where to continue
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