Stop Putting Your QR Code Where Nobody Can Scan It
Most codes fail for an unglamorous reason: they're physically awkward to scan. A walk-the-room guide to placement, glare, and the size floor.
Most QR codes fail for a deeply unglamorous reason: they are physically hard to scan. Not the encoding, not the destination, the geometry. The code is too high, too low, behind a glare, or printed so small that a phone camera gives up before it locks on.
Think about the body holding the phone. A code on a menu works because the menu is already at reading distance. A code taped to the top of a tall window fails because the customer would have to back into the street and aim upward into the sun. Before you place a code, stand where the customer will stand and ask whether you could comfortably scan it without doing a little dance.
Glare is the silent killer. Glossy laminate and glass both throw back enough light to wash out the pattern under shop lighting. Matte finishes scan better. If a surface has to be glossy, angle it away from your brightest lights and test it at the actual time of day people will use it.
Size has a floor. A good rule of thumb is at least an inch across for a code scanned from a foot or two away, and bigger the farther back people stand. Window decals meant to be scanned from the sidewalk need to be much larger than feels necessary indoors.
None of this is exciting, and that is exactly why it gets skipped. Walk your space, scan your own codes from where real people stand, and you will fix more scan-rate problems in an afternoon than any redesign ever could.