Why DQ's QR Campaign Failed Me

This morning I came across an article about Dairy Queen using QR Codes in their fundraising effort this year. I got excited! What I hoped for was to scan the code and be able to donate right from my phone.

That’s not what happened, and it aggravated me.

Many times, when you scan a code you get taken to the standard company site. I wasn’t even taken there! (Frustration level rises.)

Here’s what happened:

1. I scanned the QR Code.
2. The screen that came up stated that the code only worked when scanned with a specific reader.
   (At this point, I should have given up. But what’s one more free app on my iPhone?)
3. I download a new reader to my iPhone.
4. I re-scan the QR Code.
5. I’m taken to a screen that says, “You have to register or sign in to proceed.”
6. I abandon the code.

I did abandon the code my first time, but as today progressed, I became interested in how many steps it would take to actually be able to donate. Here’s how it went the second time:
Starting at step 4:

1. Scan the QR Code
2. Create an account
3. Dairy Queen mobile page through Mobio loads
4. Scroll to find the donate button. (4 links down, by the way)
5. Loads new page, which again you have to scroll to see the options.
6. New page loads, once again says I have to register.
7. This step includes putting my credit card information in. The credit card information isn’t on the Children’s Miracle Network page, but it’s for the reader application.

This is where I stopped. I don’t like using my credit card when it takes me 12 steps to get what I want to accomplish.

Here’s how the process should have went:

1. Scan code
2. Donation page loads. Select donation amount.
3. Enter payment information
4. Thank you page loads.

Four steps are all that’s needed for a donation campaign. With the Dairy Queen campaign there were three times as many steps.

When designing QR Code campaigns, you must think about your user. How many steps can you have before you start losing their attention? The most important step in any campaign is to test it. Have others outside your team use the code. Watch them through the process. If they struggle, then change the process.

As with everything KISS.