From 2012-2016, I mocked QR codes because they were rarely useful and mostly pointless, at least the way most people saw them. I’d worked with a few barcode scanner/inventory control companies and won’t say QR codes are without utility (I know 2d barcodes and QR codes are different technologies, but still). However, in 2012, when I noticed people putting QR codes on business cards, inside PowerPoints, on billboards, and even in TV commercials, it was almost always for no reason. QR codes got used as a cool tech thing; technology for the sake of tech. QR codes didn’t solve a problem most of the time, and in fact, often couldn’t be used… At least I hope very few people used the QR codes on billboards. In 2012, I laughed as ad agencies found excuses to use QR codes (it was clout chasing, to show how forward the brand was). The prevalence of QR codes for a handful of years came because marketers pushed a cool new thing, not from consumer desire. Most people didn’t use QR codes once, and very few used the codes three or more times. Keep in mind, in 2012, less than 50% of U.S. adults owned a smartphone, and those who did had to install an app to scan a QR code. Now, QR codes have come into their own, and while sticking a code on a billboard or in broadcast TV is dumb, most smartphones can open a QR code without an app. And with a global…QR Codes Are Good User Experience In A Pandemic