When Good Tools Create Bad Experiences: A Lesson in Context-Driven Design

Not every powerful tool belongs everywhere.

In fact, one of the most common design mistakes isn’t choosing the wrong tool — it’s using the right tool in the wrong context.

QR codes are a perfect example.

Have you ever been sitting in traffic, noticed a digital billboard with a QR code, and thought, “That’s interesting…” — only for it to disappear before you could even unlock your phone?

Or seen a QR code inside a social media post while scrolling on your mobile device and wondered how, exactly, you’re supposed to use it?

Or passed a billboard with a QR code placed so high — or so far from safe stopping — that scanning it would be impractical at best, dangerous at worst?

This is a mockup ad used as an example. When consumers are walking on the street below or driving on a very busy intersection, they are not afforded an opportunity to capture and engage with the QR code meaningfully. The placement is a real one in Half Way Tree, Kingston, and it can be booked monthly, quarterly, or annually through a Jamaican Media House.

These are small moments.

But they’re moments of friction.

And if you experience them as a consumer, your audience is experiencing them too.

Originally developed to bridge physical and digital experiences, QR codes are incredibly effective when used in print environments — packaging, signage, event materials, storefront displays. In those spaces, they remove friction. They give people an immediate pathway from what they’re seeing to where they need to go.

But in fully digital environments — like Instagram posts, emails, or LinkedIn carousels — they can do the opposite.

Instead of simplifying the journey, they add a step.

And in design, every extra step matters.

This mock-up is for an ad in Piarco Airport, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. In this situation, consumers can get closer to the screen with their devices, scan the QR code, and engage digitally. It also gives them something to do in a period of less activity. Advertising should also be available on these screens. Details tbc.

The Real Issue Isn’t the Tool

As SUITE M consultant Marishka Massey recently explored in her LinkedIn post, the effectiveness of QR codes depends entirely on context.

On a printed poster? Seamless.

On a social media graphic being viewed on a mobile phone? Redundant.

The issue isn’t whether QR codes “work.”The issue is whether they work here.

This is a design thinking problem, not a marketing trend problem.

Design Is About Flow

Good design reduces effort.

It anticipates how people behave, what device they’re using, what environment they’re in, and what their next action is likely to be. When someone is already on a mobile device, asking them to open their camera app to scan a code on the same screen disrupts flow. It creates friction where none was needed.

That friction may seem small. But in digital systems — and in business systems — small inefficiencies add up.

The Bigger Lesson for Growing Businesses

At SUITE M, we approach design as decision architecture.

Whether we’re structuring:

• A marketing funnel

• A client onboarding experience

• A workspace layout

• Or an internal operations system

The principle is the same:

Every element should make movement easier, not harder.

A feature that looks innovative but interrupts behavior is not strategic. It’s only decorative.

And strategic design is never decorative.

Context Is Strategy

Tools are neutral. Context gives them power.

Before adding any feature, visual, digital, or spatial —the question shouldn't be:

“Is this modern?”“Is this trending?”“Is this impressive?”

It’s better to ask:

“Does this reduce friction for the person using it?”

When design decisions are made with that lens, the result feels effortless.

And that’s when design stops being aesthetic and starts becoming infrastructure.

When we look at design choices this way, everything seems to come together smoothly.

This is when design stops being visual and starts becoming functional content.

If you're rethinking how your content functions — not just how it looks — a strategy session with Marishka is the right place to start. Book a session to refine your content direction and ensure every piece serves a clear purpose.