Hi, I'm Alonso.
My mission is to delight people with software.
I work as a consulting full-stack developer.
I sometimes pitch in on product design.
I only use the best tools.
I'm sometimes available for hire.Previous clients
I createdMETAR Widgetsto bring aviation weather to the home screen.
As a student pilot learning to fly a taildragger in gusty South Dakota, I quickly learned to keep a close eye on the weather. Wind, cloud bases, and dewpoint can all ruin your day pretty quickly. Luckily, they're reported by automated stations in a format called METAR.
iOS 14 brought Widgets to the home screen, so I decided to build a well-designed set for aviators. Each widget is able to intelligently surface the most relevant weather conditions, and tapping on the widget opens the full METAR.
I found designing for Widgets to be delightful - the available space is so limited that you have to be ruthless about deciding what information to include - especially if you want to maintain some whitespace and simplicity in the design.
METAR Widgets was featured in iPadPilotNews - read the coverage here.
iOS 14 brought Widgets to the home screen, so I decided to build a well-designed set for aviators. Each widget is able to intelligently surface the most relevant weather conditions, and tapping on the widget opens the full METAR.
I found designing for Widgets to be delightful - the available space is so limited that you have to be ruthless about deciding what information to include - especially if you want to maintain some whitespace and simplicity in the design.
METAR Widgets was featured in iPadPilotNews - read the coverage here.
I worked withGoogle Satellitesto help us understand our world better.
Right now, there are two SkySat satellites orbiting the earth. Several times per day, they pass over targets on the ground and collect high-defintion images and video. The mission of the Google Satellites team (also called Terra Bella, formerly Skybox) was to turn this huge store of raw imagery into structured data to better understand the global economy.
At the Googleplex, I worked with the TB Team to combine this data and imagery in a useful (and beautiful) way. There were lots of tough engineering and usability problems to overcome - from figuring out the best way to show data changing over time, to performantly switching between massive images.
The biggest lesson I learned on this project was to be relentlessly customer-driven. Because the use-cases for our product were so cutting-edge, we spent a lot of time prototyping and iterating with our early customers.
Also, it was just plain fun to work with satellites again - I have an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering, and it's never stopped fascinating me.
At the Googleplex, I worked with the TB Team to combine this data and imagery in a useful (and beautiful) way. There were lots of tough engineering and usability problems to overcome - from figuring out the best way to show data changing over time, to performantly switching between massive images.
The biggest lesson I learned on this project was to be relentlessly customer-driven. Because the use-cases for our product were so cutting-edge, we spent a lot of time prototyping and iterating with our early customers.
Also, it was just plain fun to work with satellites again - I have an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering, and it's never stopped fascinating me.
I worked withSynapseto design safer security checkpoints.
More than 2.5 million carry-on bags pass through airport security checkpoints every day. Screeners sit and stare at x-ray images of these bags - a job so tiring that they rotate out every 15 minutes.
Synapse uses machine learning to detect threats, and flag them for human operators to review. They reached out to me to design a product for security checkpoint supervisors to understand and manage the AI.
Synapse uses machine learning to detect threats, and flag them for human operators to review. They reached out to me to design a product for security checkpoint supervisors to understand and manage the AI.
I'm designing and buildingClipperto make podcasts quotable.
I love introducing people to new music, books, and (of course) podcasts - so when I hear an amazing moment, my first instinct is to send it to a friend or post it on twitter.
As it turns out, this is quite difficult - cutting out a bit of a podcast is an awkward process, and it's still quite difficult to share audio on the web. I created Clipper to make this easier.
People use Clipper to cut out short (usually 30-ish second) "clips" from a podcast. Clipper creates a video for each clip, which makes them really easy to share on twitter or send over SMS. For extra oomph, you can add a Giphy GIF to the generated video.
As it turns out, this is quite difficult - cutting out a bit of a podcast is an awkward process, and it's still quite difficult to share audio on the web. I created Clipper to make this easier.
People use Clipper to cut out short (usually 30-ish second) "clips" from a podcast. Clipper creates a video for each clip, which makes them really easy to share on twitter or send over SMS. For extra oomph, you can add a Giphy GIF to the generated video.
I co-created and exhibited전시회 remakea VR experience to promote sustainability.
Climate change is a big, abstract problem with huge, far-reaching consequences. The decisions that we make every day collectively impact the planet's climate, but often we don't feel the connection. It's not as if the air immediately gets less smoggy every time you choose to take the train.
ReMake is a VR experience where the air immediately gets less smoggy every time you choose to take the train. It's an experiment in taking abstract, far-future consequences and making them tangible and immediate.
It's also a fun game about smooshing cars into trains to save your city.
I co-created the ReMake VR experience in collaboration with the awesome folks at needlab, and with the support of FabCity Seoul. It was exhibited at the Seoul Innovation Park, as well as at the HelloMaker conference in Busan.
ReMake is a VR experience where the air immediately gets less smoggy every time you choose to take the train. It's an experiment in taking abstract, far-future consequences and making them tangible and immediate.
It's also a fun game about smooshing cars into trains to save your city.
I co-created the ReMake VR experience in collaboration with the awesome folks at needlab, and with the support of FabCity Seoul. It was exhibited at the Seoul Innovation Park, as well as at the HelloMaker conference in Busan.
Alonso has been the best contractor we've worked with. I was really impressed with his ability to work independently on all parts of a project - from design to prototype and deployment. He maintained a steady stream of updates and communication, and was able to think from the perspective of the customer to prioritize in a project that had vague and shifting requirements.
Bruno Faviero, CEO @ Syntech Technology Corporation
From the start, Alonso put himself in the shoes of our users,and solved local problems with his global experience. He brought a fresh pair of eyes to our design team. Alonso makes you feel that he always has time for you - you can grab him at any time, and get to the drawing board to draft solutions.
Sameera Chukkapalli, Founder @ Needlab