Hi Mike
We've developed a beacon based CMS platform and app, and before getting to
this stage we undertook user testing within a art gallery with QR codes vs
presentation cards vs Beacons.
You could argue that we have the complete system (CMS, app and beacons)
which is an unfair comparison to the QR Codes, but we could have easily
retasked our CMS to generate QR Codes and our app to read them. However
there were the several factors that we encountered:
*Quality of display*
QR codes need to printed. We looked at the professionally printed codes vs
in house printed vs beacons.
- If your exhibit changes that QRC sign cannot be reused, you have to
generate a new. This will incur a cost and print time.
- Inhouse QRC looked unprofessional (laser / bubble jet does not have
the quality of a printers)
- We observed more users scanning the professionally printed QRC than
the inhouse one.
- Beacons can be hidden out of site and it could be easily re-assigned
(with our CMS) if the display changes. Content is pushed to a users device
as soon as they come into proximity,
- 92% of users questioned said they prefer the beacons solution as they
didn't have to do anything - content was pushed to them.
*Size of QRC*
How large do you print the QRC out? This was a constant question.
- Too small:
- Users had to get up really close to scan - which was often a barrier
- Risk of getting too close and damaging display/artwork
- Too large:
- Over-powered the display
- Looked tacky
- Just because it was bigger didn't mean we could scan it from further
away and the size of the QRC made no difference to the number of visitors
who would scan.
*Accessibility & engagement*
We observed a crowd around a display having to queue in order to scan the
code.
Several member of that group gave up waiting and became disinterested. We
asked those users why they walked away and the general feedback was;
- having to wait for others to finish scanning
- too many people around that one display in close proximity - they felt
they where pushing and shoving each other just to scan the code.
We also encountered a chap who had 2 walking sticks who struggled to hold
his phone at the angle needed to scan the code - not great for
accessibility.
This also then made us aware of users in wheel chairs, although none
attended, if the QRC have been positioned too high or in a tight space,
those user may not have been to access the area or been able to reach the
QRC to scan.
With beacons they transmit, so anyone within that proximity can get the
information sent to them - you don't have to get up an close.
*Usability*
Of the organisations that we spoke to who had implemented QR codes did so
with free software. They would publish content on their website, copy that
URL to the free software, generated the code and print it.
Users would then have to download and/or open a QR code reading software
app, scan the code, wait for the code to ping back with the URL, then take
them to the phone's browser to then load the content.
The majority of the time, it would have been just as easy to type in a
dedicated url rather than do all of the above, but many CMS systems do not
publish search friendly URLs, making QRC previously the only option.
We even found that with one organisation they would do the above, but their
site was not responsive! So after all that, the user still couldn't access
the content.
In general, beacons and QRC are just the physical triggers to content. Its
how the content is structured and how that is accessed.
Beacons are lot better than QRC as you don't need to get close, you don't
need to scan, you don't need to generate the QRC or print it or mount it
and so on.
There was a lot that we discovered undertaking the pilots and I could write
a lot more - but perhaps save that for phone call if you wanted to know
more.
Thanks
Richard
On 26 February 2015 at 10:58, Mike Ellis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hey all
>
> Has anyone done / know of any studies (or have any thoughts) about
> comparisons between the take up / usage of on-gallery "find out more about
> this object" solutions?
>
> Do people want to find out more? Do they scan? How?
>
> cheers!
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> _____________________________
>
>
> *Mike Ellis *
>
> Thirty8 Digital: a small but perfectly formed digital agency:
> http://thirty8.co.uk <http://thirty8.co.uk/>
>
> * My book: http://heritageweb.co.uk <http://heritageweb.co.uk/> *
>
>
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