QR codes are all the rage. Too bad the user's experience is so poor. Here's what you want to avoid in your campaigns based on Home Depot's recent mistakes.
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Long opt-in process with multiple form fields
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Frustrating your users
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Importance of testing your QR in the wild
2011 is the year that QR codes took off. You see them everywhere in print and outdoor advertising and hear the hype surrounding smartphone adoption. (Here’s an overview on how it works and 6 mistakes to avoid).
Marketers seem to be telling clients, “Finally, a great way to tie online metrics to traditional advertising.”
But while everyone is busy generating these codes and awkwardly stuffing them into ad layouts, it seems the user experience has been completely forgotten.
Forgive us for a moment while we pick on Home Depot.
It’s a muggy Sunday afternoon. The kind where your neck is sticky and clammy with sweat. I’m in the outdoor garden center along with everyone else in town. Kids are screaming. Old folks are running into my Achilles tendons with their shopping carts. Bugs keep landing on my neck.
I see a large banner on an end cap with a QR code and a call to action of ‘scan me for exclusive offers’ or the option to enter a really long URL.
I scan it and am greeted with the following screen on my iPhone:
Bear in mind, I’m trying to figure out what the ‘exclusive offer’ is and still protect my shins.
Given all these distractions, do I really have the time (or passion) to enter all these fields on my phone? Ummm. No.
Okay, I see really small social icons and text that says I can login this way. Cool, I’ll try Facebook and by now I’m really hoping it’s an instant 25% off at checkout given all the hassle.
And I’m greeted by this screen:
I refresh it on my browser only to see the same thing.
Now, this could be due to operator error but still why so many hoops?
Why not a simple Facebook “Like” button and I’m in the club to take advantage of a one-time offer?
Barring that, and this is pushing it, why not just have me enter my email address?
Now, Home Depot you have the opportunity to delight me. Give me a discount, or a Marigold plant, or a free popsicle, or some shin guards.
I’m hot. Sticky. Agitated. Please don't make it difficult and then don't reward me for my diligence just because your checking off an item on your marketing list of to-do’s.
“How about our Mobile strategy?”
“Got it covered boss.”
Takeaways
So, back to one of the major rules we brought up in a previous post about actually testing the QR code: be sure to do it under the same conditions your users are going to experience.
If I’m UX professional for Home Depot, I should be out on a weekend, dodging carts and kids and seeing what it’s like to scan and try and take advantage of an “exclusive offer”.
I should fight with the legal department and marketing team to make it as simple as possible.
No, it can’t work the same way as our opt-in form does in a browser.
It’s a fundamentally different experience via different form factors and visual real estate.
The opportunity to truly delight a mobile customer is clearly there. You can engage with me almost up to the moment of purchase - or you can severely disappoint me.
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