Open Forum

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Hi Jim, 

My name is Michaela Starr and I'm the business development coordinator at Multilingual Connections. We have implemented QR codes for our clients in the museum and cultural center community. The best part about QR codes is the flexibility to be easily updated, expanded, and changed, so it really depends on what you think will work best for your audience. On projects we have worked on we have implemented 1 QR code for all languages, and then the landing page allows them to chose their language option and go straight to the content from there. In our experience QR codes are placed by exhibit or room, as not to overwhelm with too many codes or be scrolling through their phone to find what they're looking for. 

Here is a link to more information about the work we do for museums and cultural institutions. 

I'd be happy to set up a time to talk with our project manager who helps implement these projects, to answer some of the questions above and walk through the process for implementing multilingual content. 

My information is
michaela@mlconnections.com 
(773)-906-5935

Best,
Michaela

------------------------------
Michaela Starr
Marketing & Communications Manager
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

We have a QR code that takes visitors to a website that is just the self-guided tour.  All they have to do is scroll down (we have a prescribed route to follow) and they can read or listen to information on each of the rooms. We also have QR codes in each of the rooms that take them directly to the information on that room so if they are only interested in some, they can choose to only read/listen to those. Our signs have QR codes for English and Spanish, which is a separate website/audio.  We set visitors up with the QR codes when they are checking in or purchasing their tickets so that we can help trouble shoot for people.  We also have staff inside the museum who can help as well. I should add that we only started using these with the pandemic and it's been great.  We do also have some paper copies of the tour available as well for folks who aren't interested in using their phone.

------------------------------
Heather Pressman
Director of Learning & Engagement
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Co-author of The Art of Access: A Practical Guide for Museum Accessibility.
Use the code RLFANDF30 for 30% off!
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Thank you, Heather.

Are you creating the QR codes in-house or are you using a online service or organization to set up the program?

Some of the online subscription based services offer some enticing features when using dynamic QR codes, such as the ability to create reports on usage.

Thanks again,
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 10:59 AM
From: Heather Pressman
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

We have a QR code that takes visitors to a website that is just the self-guided tour.  All they have to do is scroll down (we have a prescribed route to follow) and they can read or listen to information on each of the rooms. We also have QR codes in each of the rooms that take them directly to the information on that room so if they are only interested in some, they can choose to only read/listen to those. Our signs have QR codes for English and Spanish, which is a separate website/audio.  We set visitors up with the QR codes when they are checking in or purchasing their tickets so that we can help trouble shoot for people.  We also have staff inside the museum who can help as well. I should add that we only started using these with the pandemic and it's been great.  We do also have some paper copies of the tour available as well for folks who aren't interested in using their phone.

------------------------------
Heather Pressman
Director of Learning & Engagement
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Co-author of The Art of Access: A Practical Guide for Museum Accessibility.
Use the code RLFANDF30 for 30% off!

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 7/28/2022 6:20:00 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: RE: QR codes and the visitor experience

Thank you, Heather.

Are you creating the QR codes in-house or are you using a online service or organization to set up the program?

Some of the online subscription based services offer some enticing features when using dynamic QR codes, such as the ability to create reports on usage.

Thanks again,
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 10:59 AM
From: Heather Pressman
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

We have a QR code that takes visitors to a website that is just the self-guided tour.  All they have to do is scroll down (we have a prescribed route to follow) and they can read or listen to information on each of the rooms. We also have QR codes in each of the rooms that take them directly to the information on that room so if they are only interested in some, they can choose to only read/listen to those. Our signs have QR codes for English and Spanish, which is a separate website/audio.  We set visitors up with the QR codes when they are checking in or purchasing their tickets so that we can help trouble shoot for people.  We also have staff inside the museum who can help as well. I should add that we only started using these with the pandemic and it's been great.  We do also have some paper copies of the tour available as well for folks who aren't interested in using their phone.

------------------------------
Heather Pressman
Director of Learning & Engagement
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Co-author of The Art of Access: A Practical Guide for Museum Accessibility.
Use the code RLFANDF30 for 30% off!

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Hi Jim, 

I created the codes that Heather mentioned. I use this website- QR Code Generator | Create Your Free QR Codes.  It is free and I save the QR codes to our server. To make them trackable, we use Bitly so the QR code is linked to the Bitly address which is linked to the url of our survey, website, etc. So far it's been a good system and theBbitly tracking has been super helpful to see which QR codes are being scanned on the tour and which ones might be missed by visitors. We also use Bitly to track any event links that direct to registration page, like putting up a link on Facebook or community calendar so that we can see how much traffic our marketing is doing. 

Happy to talk more if you have any other questions!

Jen

------------------------------
Jennifer Kindick
Museum Education Specialist
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 06:20 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Thank you, Heather.

Are you creating the QR codes in-house or are you using a online service or organization to set up the program?

Some of the online subscription based services offer some enticing features when using dynamic QR codes, such as the ability to create reports on usage.

Thanks again,
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 10:59 AM
From: Heather Pressman
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

We have a QR code that takes visitors to a website that is just the self-guided tour.  All they have to do is scroll down (we have a prescribed route to follow) and they can read or listen to information on each of the rooms. We also have QR codes in each of the rooms that take them directly to the information on that room so if they are only interested in some, they can choose to only read/listen to those. Our signs have QR codes for English and Spanish, which is a separate website/audio.  We set visitors up with the QR codes when they are checking in or purchasing their tickets so that we can help trouble shoot for people.  We also have staff inside the museum who can help as well. I should add that we only started using these with the pandemic and it's been great.  We do also have some paper copies of the tour available as well for folks who aren't interested in using their phone.

------------------------------
Heather Pressman
Director of Learning & Engagement
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Co-author of The Art of Access: A Practical Guide for Museum Accessibility.
Use the code RLFANDF30 for 30% off!

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Hi Jen--
Thanks for the information about your OR code program.
Could you share any tracking data about visitors' uptake? What do the numbers look like?
If you know "...which QR codes are being scanned on the tour and which ones might be missed by visitors", can you tell us something about what you've learned? E.g., out of X number of QR codes in a location, what is a high rate of scanning; how many are low or skipped?
I'm not asking for a big report, just a feeling for where we are in this QR business at the moment?
Cheers,
Beverly Serrell

------------------------------
Beverly Serrell
Director
Serrell & Associates
Chicago IL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-01-2022 11:09 AM
From: Jennifer Kindick
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hi Jim, 

I created the codes that Heather mentioned. I use this website- QR Code Generator | Create Your Free QR Codes.  It is free and I save the QR codes to our server. To make them trackable, we use Bitly so the QR code is linked to the Bitly address which is linked to the url of our survey, website, etc. So far it's been a good system and theBbitly tracking has been super helpful to see which QR codes are being scanned on the tour and which ones might be missed by visitors. We also use Bitly to track any event links that direct to registration page, like putting up a link on Facebook or community calendar so that we can see how much traffic our marketing is doing. 

Happy to talk more if you have any other questions!

Jen

------------------------------
Jennifer Kindick
Museum Education Specialist
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 06:20 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Thank you, Heather.

Are you creating the QR codes in-house or are you using a online service or organization to set up the program?

Some of the online subscription based services offer some enticing features when using dynamic QR codes, such as the ability to create reports on usage.

Thanks again,
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 10:59 AM
From: Heather Pressman
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

We have a QR code that takes visitors to a website that is just the self-guided tour.  All they have to do is scroll down (we have a prescribed route to follow) and they can read or listen to information on each of the rooms. We also have QR codes in each of the rooms that take them directly to the information on that room so if they are only interested in some, they can choose to only read/listen to those. Our signs have QR codes for English and Spanish, which is a separate website/audio.  We set visitors up with the QR codes when they are checking in or purchasing their tickets so that we can help trouble shoot for people.  We also have staff inside the museum who can help as well. I should add that we only started using these with the pandemic and it's been great.  We do also have some paper copies of the tour available as well for folks who aren't interested in using their phone.

------------------------------
Heather Pressman
Director of Learning & Engagement
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Co-author of The Art of Access: A Practical Guide for Museum Accessibility.
Use the code RLFANDF30 for 30% off!

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Hi Beverly, 

Sure! We've had around 8,000 visitors on our self-guided tour experience since April 1, which is when these signs were put up, and around 89% of visitors have scanned the main QR code to access our Digital Museum Guide for their self-guided tour in either Spanish or English. Visitors are verbally directed to scan this QR code at check-in so that is likely why this number is so high. Visitors can access the entire Digital Museum Guide for every room just from this one QR code but we also have QR codes in each room that direct visitors to that room's specific digital guide page in either English or Spanish. I'm using that 8,000 visitor number when calculating my percentages but we know that some people just follow the digital guide room to room from that first QR code and don't bother with the QR codes in each room. 

Most QR codes are printed on 8.5x4 inch paper in color with codes directing visitors to either the English or Spanish guide on the sheet. They are put into plexi holders and are placed on tables near doorways, within eyeline sight or by our "Touch Baskets". Two of the signs are 8.5x11 inches  and are in tall floor stands. We have one QR sign per room. 

There is obvious QR code fatigue as visitors go through the house. Based on the numbers, visitors are more likely to scan the QR codes in the first four rooms in the house, which create a square on the first floor, but the number decreases as they go room to room. 22% of visitors scanned the QR code in the first room, then down to about 10% in the 4th room on the first floor.

When visitors change floors, the likelihood to scan QRs increased. 12% scanned the QR code in the first room on the 2nd floor and that percentage stayed relatively even for the first two bedrooms on that floor, including the bedroom of Margaret Brown, the namesake of the museum. The numbers then go down in the other bedrooms on this floor, 8%-5%.

The numbers slightly increased again when visitors went down the stairs to the kitchen-6% of visitors scanned the codes in this space.  

The QR code in the last space of the house has substantially lower numbers than the rest- only 80 total hits. We are in the process of moving this one closer to the entrance to this space and changing its presentation so that hopefully more visitors will interact with it.  

Hope that helps!

Best,

Jen



------------------------------
Jennifer Kindick
Museum Education Specialist
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-01-2022 01:00 PM
From: Beverly Serrell
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hi Jen--
Thanks for the information about your OR code program.
Could you share any tracking data about visitors' uptake? What do the numbers look like?
If you know "...which QR codes are being scanned on the tour and which ones might be missed by visitors", can you tell us something about what you've learned? E.g., out of X number of QR codes in a location, what is a high rate of scanning; how many are low or skipped?
I'm not asking for a big report, just a feeling for where we are in this QR business at the moment?
Cheers,
Beverly Serrell

------------------------------
Beverly Serrell
Director
Serrell & Associates
Chicago IL

Original Message:
Sent: 08-01-2022 11:09 AM
From: Jennifer Kindick
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hi Jim, 

I created the codes that Heather mentioned. I use this website- QR Code Generator | Create Your Free QR Codes.  It is free and I save the QR codes to our server. To make them trackable, we use Bitly so the QR code is linked to the Bitly address which is linked to the url of our survey, website, etc. So far it's been a good system and theBbitly tracking has been super helpful to see which QR codes are being scanned on the tour and which ones might be missed by visitors. We also use Bitly to track any event links that direct to registration page, like putting up a link on Facebook or community calendar so that we can see how much traffic our marketing is doing. 

Happy to talk more if you have any other questions!

Jen

------------------------------
Jennifer Kindick
Museum Education Specialist
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 06:20 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Thank you, Heather.

Are you creating the QR codes in-house or are you using a online service or organization to set up the program?

Some of the online subscription based services offer some enticing features when using dynamic QR codes, such as the ability to create reports on usage.

Thanks again,
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 10:59 AM
From: Heather Pressman
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

We have a QR code that takes visitors to a website that is just the self-guided tour.  All they have to do is scroll down (we have a prescribed route to follow) and they can read or listen to information on each of the rooms. We also have QR codes in each of the rooms that take them directly to the information on that room so if they are only interested in some, they can choose to only read/listen to those. Our signs have QR codes for English and Spanish, which is a separate website/audio.  We set visitors up with the QR codes when they are checking in or purchasing their tickets so that we can help trouble shoot for people.  We also have staff inside the museum who can help as well. I should add that we only started using these with the pandemic and it's been great.  We do also have some paper copies of the tour available as well for folks who aren't interested in using their phone.

------------------------------
Heather Pressman
Director of Learning & Engagement
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Co-author of The Art of Access: A Practical Guide for Museum Accessibility.
Use the code RLFANDF30 for 30% off!

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Thank you, Jen! Really appreciate your answer!
Beverly

------------------------------
Beverly Serrell
Director
Serrell & Associates
Chicago IL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-01-2022 04:22 PM
From: Jennifer Kindick
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hi Beverly, 

Sure! We've had around 8,000 visitors on our self-guided tour experience since April 1, which is when these signs were put up, and around 89% of visitors have scanned the main QR code to access our Digital Museum Guide for their self-guided tour in either Spanish or English. Visitors are verbally directed to scan this QR code at check-in so that is likely why this number is so high. Visitors can access the entire Digital Museum Guide for every room just from this one QR code but we also have QR codes in each room that direct visitors to that room's specific digital guide page in either English or Spanish. I'm using that 8,000 visitor number when calculating my percentages but we know that some people just follow the digital guide room to room from that first QR code and don't bother with the QR codes in each room. 

Most QR codes are printed on 8.5x4 inch paper in color with codes directing visitors to either the English or Spanish guide on the sheet. They are put into plexi holders and are placed on tables near doorways, within eyeline sight or by our "Touch Baskets". Two of the signs are 8.5x11 inches  and are in tall floor stands. We have one QR sign per room. 

There is obvious QR code fatigue as visitors go through the house. Based on the numbers, visitors are more likely to scan the QR codes in the first four rooms in the house, which create a square on the first floor, but the number decreases as they go room to room. 22% of visitors scanned the QR code in the first room, then down to about 10% in the 4th room on the first floor.

When visitors change floors, the likelihood to scan QRs increased. 12% scanned the QR code in the first room on the 2nd floor and that percentage stayed relatively even for the first two bedrooms on that floor, including the bedroom of Margaret Brown, the namesake of the museum. The numbers then go down in the other bedrooms on this floor, 8%-5%.

The numbers slightly increased again when visitors went down the stairs to the kitchen-6% of visitors scanned the codes in this space.  

The QR code in the last space of the house has substantially lower numbers than the rest- only 80 total hits. We are in the process of moving this one closer to the entrance to this space and changing its presentation so that hopefully more visitors will interact with it.  

Hope that helps!

Best,

Jen



------------------------------
Jennifer Kindick
Museum Education Specialist
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Original Message:
Sent: 08-01-2022 01:00 PM
From: Beverly Serrell
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hi Jen--
Thanks for the information about your OR code program.
Could you share any tracking data about visitors' uptake? What do the numbers look like?
If you know "...which QR codes are being scanned on the tour and which ones might be missed by visitors", can you tell us something about what you've learned? E.g., out of X number of QR codes in a location, what is a high rate of scanning; how many are low or skipped?
I'm not asking for a big report, just a feeling for where we are in this QR business at the moment?
Cheers,
Beverly Serrell

------------------------------
Beverly Serrell
Director
Serrell & Associates
Chicago IL

Original Message:
Sent: 08-01-2022 11:09 AM
From: Jennifer Kindick
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hi Jim, 

I created the codes that Heather mentioned. I use this website- QR Code Generator | Create Your Free QR Codes.  It is free and I save the QR codes to our server. To make them trackable, we use Bitly so the QR code is linked to the Bitly address which is linked to the url of our survey, website, etc. So far it's been a good system and theBbitly tracking has been super helpful to see which QR codes are being scanned on the tour and which ones might be missed by visitors. We also use Bitly to track any event links that direct to registration page, like putting up a link on Facebook or community calendar so that we can see how much traffic our marketing is doing. 

Happy to talk more if you have any other questions!

Jen

------------------------------
Jennifer Kindick
Museum Education Specialist
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 06:20 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Thank you, Heather.

Are you creating the QR codes in-house or are you using a online service or organization to set up the program?

Some of the online subscription based services offer some enticing features when using dynamic QR codes, such as the ability to create reports on usage.

Thanks again,
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA

Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 10:59 AM
From: Heather Pressman
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

We have a QR code that takes visitors to a website that is just the self-guided tour.  All they have to do is scroll down (we have a prescribed route to follow) and they can read or listen to information on each of the rooms. We also have QR codes in each of the rooms that take them directly to the information on that room so if they are only interested in some, they can choose to only read/listen to those. Our signs have QR codes for English and Spanish, which is a separate website/audio.  We set visitors up with the QR codes when they are checking in or purchasing their tickets so that we can help trouble shoot for people.  We also have staff inside the museum who can help as well. I should add that we only started using these with the pandemic and it's been great.  We do also have some paper copies of the tour available as well for folks who aren't interested in using their phone.

------------------------------
Heather Pressman
Director of Learning & Engagement
Molly Brown House Museum
Denver CO

Co-author of The Art of Access: A Practical Guide for Museum Accessibility.
Use the code RLFANDF30 for 30% off!

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------

Hi James,
my name is Lars Wohlers, I am running a small exhibition company in Germany. For a current exhibition we came across a swedish tool which uses QR-codes which we and the client find very usefull (not implemented fully, yet): https://pixilab.se/products
Wish you all the best,
Lars

------------------------------
Lars Wohlers PhD
Founder and Owner of Interpretive Planning, Training, and Visitor Studies Company KON-TIKI
Heiligenthal
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 01:53 PM
From: James Balsitis
Subject: QR codes and the visitor experience

Hello,

We have been using QR codes to give our visitors access to additional content about our facility and history, while they are on tour.  The success of QR code use has been challenging due to a variety of limitations.  Most of the challenges relate to people who struggle with technology or have older devices.

We are looking to expand the use of QR codes by offering the content in multiple languages.  We are also exploring and discussing best practices for QR code use that will give the most success to the visitor experience.  The content available is in the form of audio or readable.

Questions that we are pondering include:

Should there be just one QR code, starting from the beginning of the tour, that brings the visitor to a web page, and then from there they need to navigate through the various options such as language and interpretive stop or location on tour?

Should there be many QR codes along the tour that will bring the visitor directly to the online content, instead of navigating through different web pages?  For instance, the visitor walks to an interpretive stop and there is a sign with 5 QR codes, one for each available language, that will instantly play an audio clip.

At what point does the visitor lose interest in seeing or listening to additional content due to too much navigation or clicks, slow connection, waiting for pages to load, etc.

Maybe the use of QR codes is not the best way to give additional content to our visitors?

I am interested to hear if anyone has explored or implemented the use of QR codes and how that is working?  QR code technology seems to be changing rapidly to be used in many ways.  Are there any best practices that you feel are important?

Thank you for your time.
Jim

------------------------------
James Balsitis
Director of Facilities
Santa Barbara CA
------------------------------