QR codes on conference posters: Some scan, some don’t

I have been writing about the possible uses of QR codes for more than a decade now. But I have had one lingering question.

Does anyone actually use them?

This matters for conference poster design, because every bit of space on a poster matters. If nobody is scanning QR codes on posters, they should just be left off. 

I looked through Google Scholar many times trying to find any research on how often QR codes get scanned. And I keep getting nothing. Obviously, companies that use QR codes can track how many people visit a website or download something that a QR code leads to, but those seem to be purely internal data that never get shared.

My completely subjective impression was that QR codes were not used by viewers. I rarely saw anyone with their phone out, scanning QR codes, when I walked through poster sessions.

If I had to guess how many poster session viewers scanned QR codes, I would have guessed it would be a percentage in single digits. Maybe 10% at best.

I was wrong.

Last week, I was at the ISMPP conference last week presenting a poster that tried to answer this question.

The top line result was shocking to me. About half of conference goers surveyed scanned QR codes! That was far more than I expected!

Now, this may be an unusual audience. Medical communication professionals may be more technically savvy than attendees at other conferences. Similar studies at other conference would be welcome!

Although engagement was higher than I expected, the reasons why people did not scan the codes were interesting. Many just didn’t notice them. So if you people to scan your QR code, maybe don’t make it the size of a postage stamp and stick in at the bottom of your poster.

Another reason that people didn’t scan QR codes may not be fixable, the dreaded “Not interested” response. 

But when I presented this poster, I noticed that a poster nearby had a QR code with the description:

As a viewer, I was wondering, “More what?”

What is the value add that I get from scanning this QR code? If you told me what is on the other end of that QR code, maybe I will be interested enough to fish out my phone and scan it.

And the moral of the story is: QR codes are not wasted space on a poster if you feature them in smart ways.

A note about the design of this poster. I did not design this poster; it was done by professionals who work with my colleagues at IPG Health. We tried to exemplify two of our own recommendations by making the QR code big and telling people exactly what they get from scanning.

Reference

Messina EL, Faulkes Z, Evans V, Wells JL, Morrison M, Parrish C, Hannan N. 2025. Half of Cochrane and ISMPP conference attendees scan poster QR codes: Can we harmonize discordant feedback to further enhance engagement? Poster presented at 21st Annual Meeting of International Society of Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP), Washington, DC, USA, 12 May 2025. https://cdn.fs.pathlms.com/bSpeakR8RpO1BjN63xkx?cache=false&dl=true (PDF); https://mhmc.reveal-sp.com/poster/view/?id=UQj901Y1U (video walkthrough)

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