Before we begin, I invite you to scan this QR code with your phone:
If you’re reading this on your phone, click here and listen to some nice music while you read.
If you were able to scan the QR code, if you knew what scanning is, what a QR code is, how to do it, and what was going to happen when you did it, it’s because something reached you: a habit, a trend, a technology.
That’s what this post is about. It’s about zooming out to see the big picture. About my time at Mercado Libre, the largest technology company in the region, and working on UX with QR codes as a technology, a payment method, and a possibility.
It was almost two and a half years where from the first day, everyone I met welcomed me, helped me, and was willing to guide me. Although I have a few years of experience in communication and working on digital products, I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt before that my work had such an impact on people’s lives.
I believe in the transformative power of technology and language, which are not neutral, and that’s why we can use them for inclusion, education, exercising rights, and solving problems. That’s partly why I teach at a public university, and why I felt so much adrenaline and courage being part of a product that could change at least a little bit the daily lives of others.
During this time, I met incredibly talented people, always willing to teach and learn. They were always raising the bar for quality, teamwork, and creativity, no matter where they were. In my case, it was only three (yes, three!) months before they told us “guys, just in case, take your laptops home” and we didn’t return to the office for almost two years. Remotely, in a completely unfamiliar context, suddenly my work could help prevent contacts (and people getting infected), help businesses keep selling, and open paths where there seemed to be none. The challenge and the different people were up to it.
I spoke to people from all over the world, asked questions to fill in my knowledge gaps, contributed with what I had, and there was always someone willing to support and assist. We had to empathize with thousands (if not millions) of users, think creatively, anticipate their needs, test rigorously, draw, write, fail, go back, solve, see it work, see it impact the streets, in different countries. However, they say that arriving early is as bad as arriving late: what’s important is to be able to do something that benefits others for their concrete needs at a present time. We never stop being social beings, do we?
During this time, I grew a lot, along with everything that Mercado Pago’s digital wallet and QR code usage were growing in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador. The stories we told reached many people, the team grew a lot, and with that, the responsibilities, opportunities, and chance to welcome the new ones who were arriving (yes, with two years, I was already a veteran). Until we gradually returned to the offices, to draw on the walls, just the way I like it.
Today, I feel happy about everything that happened, and prepared to keep walking. I take a lot with me: many people, friends, stories, learnings, respect. It’s time to keep walking, exploring. Next stop: the blockchain.
