All posts by Jerry Gordinier

Introduction The relationship between designers and developers can be tenuous. Designers spend hours on pixel-perfect visuals and crisp micro-interactions, striving to give users power and simplicity at the same time. Designers often cannot see the complexity of what they are asking for, but developers are forced to deal with that complexity; the edge cases that a lovely and idealized image cannot capture. They must deal with situations where a user has found a way to thwart the system, where data is overwhelming and unruly, where that simple design must scaleRead More

“Thailand? You went to Thailand?” And so begins any conversation about Taiwan. Many expatriates will tell you the confusion between Thailand and Taiwan is common. I mean, they sound the same. And isn’t Taiwan in China? Why go there and not Japan, Thailand, Laos, (insert favorite Asian country)? After two years living in Taoyuan, Taiwan, I can tell you: there is every reason to make your next stop Taiwan. Forget Thailand, forget Laos. Come to the rolling hills of bamboo, the marble mountains, the people welcoming you at every turn.Read More

Designing the internet The internet is important. People love it. But it takes work to make the internet. There’s a lot of stuff going on under the hood. And working under that hood are the mechanics. The mechanics of the internet. They come in many forms: engineers, project managers, the designer. All working together to deliver the internet. Of course, if you’ve ever worked in an office, you know people enjoy bad metaphors for simple concepts. These metaphors might be used with evil intentions, to disguise a bad idea. OrRead More