Today I have been experimenting with adding QR Codes to online consultations that are created in our Citizen Space product.
This idea has been kicking around the back of my head for a while now, but a chance conversation earlier today reminded my of it. A new Budget Simulator client is looking to increase the number of respondents they get by putting stickers / posters up in bus stops around their town. It occurred to me that since Budget Simulator works on a mobile phone, they could include a QR code on their posters and people could respond to the consultation while they waited for the bus. I suggested it and it looks as though they are going to try it. Keep your eyes peeled for feedback from this!
Anyway, this reminded me of my little plan, so I decided to take some developer playtime and make a prototype happen. Here’s a screen shot of the result:
The QR Code sits in its own section of the consultation dashboard.
How did you do that?
I’m glad you asked. After a bit of research I discovered that Google provide a completely free (for all uses) service for generating QR Codes. Now obviously I didn’t want to have to rely on Google always being available, so the QR Code is generated once through Google, then stored on the consultation record. One request to Google. Saves bandwidth and time!
So what are the uses of this?
Well the idea is that when a Citizen Space administrator creates a consultation, they have the option to download the QR Code and include it on any printed information they put up around the area(s) the consultation is focused on.
Since Citizen Space is usable on a smart phone, a member of the public can scan the QR Code, visit the consultation and even fill in the quick consult survey if there is one for the consultation. All while standing in the affected area, which should encourage more considered, appropriate responses.
I believe that this would have a measurable impact on the level of participation in individual consultations.
Any drawbacks or limitations?
Yes. There are a number of things that limit the scope of this improvement, and here they are:
- Citizen Space works on smart phones, but is not optimised for them. This means that although the user experience is acceptable, there is room for improvement here.
- Many smart phones don’t come with QR Code readers as standard. Although they all have free QR Code readers available for download, this is an extra step which could reduce participation to an extent.
- Not everyone has a smart phone. I would recommend that the use of QR Codes does not replace including a URL on printed media.
For a more detailed look at the negative aspects of QR Codes see this excellent article by Joe Gillespie: 5 reasons you’re probably wasting time with QR codes
Conclusion (and a Disclaimer!)
I’m excited about this bit of development, and I would love to put it into a Beta version for one of our clients to test in the wild. However, this was done as a proof of concept and there are still lingering questions about the potential for QR codes to be exploited for malicious purposes. At Delib we like to experiment with potential new technologies, but we would never roll out functionality that could compromise the security of our products.
