User experience comparison: QR vs. AR codes
28th November 2011
This interactive exercise on QR vs. AR codes was done as part of our World Usability Day event held at User Vision's head office.
Using a smartphone camera (and a simple downloaded application) to scan QR codes offers the user the ability for the user to be taken directly to desired pages of related information etc.
More recently AR applications (such as Blippar) have applied this technique allowing the whole product to act as the ‘link’ to new content and information. The options for advertising and marketing are impressive and inventive.
However the effectiveness, scope and usability of these techniques are debatable. The aim of this demonstration was to discuss these techniques and investigate the question ’Is this really the future of interactive marketing/advertising?’
What we looked at
Using QR code scanners and the AR scanner app Blippar, users compared the scope and effectiveness of QR and AR codes to explore their thoughts on each technique on a number of areas including:
- Scope
- Ease of use
- Effectiveness
- Potential
Overall neither technique was considered convincing, with the scope of QR codes being a major limiting factor in its application. QR codes are seen as handy as shortcuts to what could be achieved by simply typing in search queries or information, but are more clearly understood by the general user.
Outcomes
AR applications (such as Blippar) are hampered by a limited public awareness and the need for a bespoke application. It is also unclear how users will be aware what offer AR content without a symbol on the design itself.
However users considered AR applications more engaging, interactive and had greater scope than QR codes. The fact that the interactive content could change over time, whilst the label remains the same was also noted as desirable.
The key factor however was the lack of ‘unique and relevant’ applications. Current applications are similar to QR codes in scope, most being shortcut, timesaving links to webpages and not unique applications.
We believe the key to success is locality, immediacy and reward. Applications that offer users immediate, local feedback by linking to the phones GPS, and also offering a tangible reward in terms of a voucher, money off or other unique function, such as ticket booking or reservation will be considerably more useful. Until then, while AR is more impressive than QR codes, its usefulness is still restricted by the lack of its killer app.
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This article was written by Jamie Sands. Jamie is a User Experience Consultant at User Vision, a usability and accessibility consultancy that helps clients gain a competitive advantage through improved ease of use.
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