How NOT to use QR codes – study case of Belgian Railways (SNCB / NMBS)

QR codes can be used effectively – we’ll get to that in a couple of articles which will be posted in the next few weeks – BUT most are just implemented in a very unthoughtful way. The result of all this clumsiness is that many people no longer bother to check out QR codes, at all. A pity because there is so much more you can do with them.

After the debacle of the recent BNP Paribas Fortis poster campaign with a QR code leading to a crippled landing page, Belgian Railways just provided a new low-point in Belgium’s already poor QR code knowledge.

This morning we got to see this major QR code failure, realized by Belgium’s NMBS Mobility design department, for a brochure with the new time schedule on Line 73 (De Panne – Ghent). No doubt that the other brochures were as bad as this one too, as far as QR code implementation is concerned.

How NOT to use QR codes - study case of Belgian Railways (SNCB / NMBS)

The target of the QR code was to get a brochure. However, instead of a low-weight PDF file, we got an url address (not even a mobile one) leading us to a page where you had to use a zoom to actually see what it was all about.

Continue reading “How NOT to use QR codes – study case of Belgian Railways (SNCB / NMBS)” »