Lyu Yu, 65, lives in Lanzhou, Gansu. When she recently went shopping at a supermarket, she found that she had to scan a QR code to download the supermarket's app in order to enjoy the discount that was not available at staffed checkout. This left her, unfamiliar with QR-code operations, able only to "fret helplessly." Although she eventually asked supermarket staff to help her download the app and complete the checkout, she still did not know how to use it, and her phone had gained an app with a single function.

　　Shopping, dining, seeing a doctor, traveling... In the digital age, carrying out online operations by scanning QR codes has brought considerable convenience to daily life. However, not everyone can adapt, and for many older people in particular, unfamiliarity with smart technology instead brings trouble. According to National Bureau of Statistics data, by the end of 2023, China's population aged 60 and above had reached 290 million, of whom 210 million were aged 65 and above. Many older people who are not proficient in using smartphones face the "QR-code dilemma."

　　The "QR-code dilemma" in daily life

　　"I don't know how far away the phone has to be for the scan to work, and I can't see clearly. When I'm alone, there's nothing I can do," Lyu Yu told the reporter. Although she had learned the basic operations of a smartphone from her children, sometimes when she was out alone she would always run into all kinds of unexpected problems—sometimes she forgot to connect to the network, and sometimes she did not realize that her finger was blocking the camera, causing the scan to fail...

　　Mr. Luo, 64, of Chaoyang District, Beijing, has encountered similar situations in life. He said that once, when picking up a parcel from a smart parcel locker, he was "dizzied" by an advertising QR code that popped up on the locker's screen. Because the close button was rather hidden, he fumbled for more than ten minutes without managing to collect the parcel, and in the end it was only with the help of the residential compound's security guard that he completed the pickup.

　　"My phone is an older model, and on top of that I have presbyopia, so looking at the phone screen is a strain. Sometimes I finally manage to scan the code but then don't know what to tap next—one moment it asks me to register as a member, the next it asks me to follow an official account..." Zhao Shujing, 79, of Beijing, gets worried whenever QR codes are mentioned. Once, she scanned a code in a promotional offer in her residential compound and was immediately stumped: she wanted to protect her privacy, but choosing "reject" meant she could not proceed to the next step. "The text on the page was very small, so in the end I just closed the campaign page," Zhao Shujing said.

　　Unfamiliarity with smartphone operations, difficulty recognizing QR codes, failure to understand how QR codes work, or doubts about the security of code scanning... For various reasons, many older people fall into the "QR-code dilemma."

　　Calls for refined and personalized services

　　In response to the "QR-code dilemma" and other problems facing older people, as early as 2020 the General Office of the State Council issued the Implementation Plan for Effectively Solving the Difficulties Experienced by Older People in Using Smart Technologies, which calls for traditional service methods to run in parallel with innovative smart services to help older people bridge the "digital divide." Taking medical treatment as an example, the plan proposes that hospitals provide appointment and registration services through multiple channels, including telephone, internet and on-site booking, and that medical institutions reserve a certain proportion of on-site appointment slots and retain staffed service windows for registration, payment and printing of test reports.

　　The reporter's interviews found that, with the introduction of various age-friendly policies, the "QR-code predicament" of older people has improved to some extent, but in many areas more refined and personalized services are still needed.

　　Zhao Shujing told the reporter that her legs are not very nimble, and online appointment booking has provided her with some convenience, but she still mainly relies on her daughter's help to operate it. Although the hospital she usually visits offers staffed appointment booking, she can only find out about appointment availability by going to the hospital in person; if there are no slots when she arrives, the trip is wasted.

　　Besides medical treatment, another aspect of the "QR-code predicament" that has attracted widespread attention is "QR-code ordering" service. The reporter recently visited a number of chain restaurants and found that most currently offer staffed ordering service alongside "QR-code ordering." However, some restaurants still have outdated dish information on their paper menus, and waiters preferentially suggest that customers order by scanning the code, providing staffed ordering service only if the customer really cannot scan.

　　Solving the problem requires participation from many sectors of society

　　Helplessness, anxiety, panic, loss... These are the negative emotions the reporter encountered in interviews when older people talked about the "QR-code predicament." Mr. Luo told the reporter: "When using a smartphone, I often feel frustrated. When I was young I thought I learned things quite quickly, so why is it so hard to learn anything now?"

　　In this regard, Zhang Jiaxin, founder of the elderly-assistance charity Sunset and Morning, said that the "QR-code predicament" has a significant impact on older people's psychology and daily life, producing negative emotions and even a sense of social isolation.

　　"I studied communications and information engineering, and I found that even the veteran experts and professors at our school who research communications feel at a loss when faced with similar problems," Zhang Jiaxin said. Zhang Jiaxin founded the Sunset and Morning charity, which, through a "volunteering plus popular science" model, actively carries out research on and popularization of digital literacy for older people.

　　Zhang Jiaxin said that solving the "QR-code dilemma" and helping older people bridge the "digital divide" still requires coordination and joint efforts from many sectors of society: the government should further promote age-friendly adaptation of smart services and strengthen related theoretical research so as to guide age-friendly work scientifically. At the same time, standardization work should keep pace to ensure that adaptations are carried out on a well-grounded and standardized basis. Communities and volunteer organizations should provide training courses. Enterprises should develop and launch products and services that truly suit the needs of older people.