Universal Studios Mobile
Built advanced AI-based in-park food ordering that tracks guests around the park with biometrics, allowing users to pick up their order at the location nearest to them.
Mobile AI Biometrics Location-Aware UX
There’s a new builder in town.
Designing and shipping technology applications with world-class polish.
I build mobile apps, AI products, and custom software with a premium, responsive-first UI—optimized for performance, accessibility, and conversion.
25+
Projects shipped
Fast
Performance-first
Clean
Modern UX
Daily
Communication
WORK
Projects
Three pillars: Mobile, AI, and Custom Development.
Mobile
Mobile projects
Native/Native-feeling apps, fast UX, clean state, shipped to users.
American Express Travel
Created the My American Express Travel experience and designed the app with a social-media-like virtual travel flow.
Mobile Travel Social UX
BMI Music
Designed the BMI Music application experience.
Mobile Music Product Design
3 items
AI
AI projects
Applied AI: productized, measurable, and engineered for reliability.
ECI Eligibility Consultants Inc
Designing a complete AI RAG implementation for handling HIPAA patient data securely with AI.
AI RAG HIPAA Healthcare Data Security
1 item
Custom
Custom development
Bespoke builds: integrations, automation, dashboards, and web apps.
0 items
CAPABILITIES
How I design and ship serious systems
Backend & platforms
- Spring/JVM services with explicit domain boundaries — CQRS only where the problem earns it
- Streaming and event-driven systems: idempotent consumers, dead letters, replay, backpressure
- Cloud data and platform primitives across relational, document, cache, config, and secrets
- ML in production: deployment paths, evaluation loops, data prep, tuning — the full stack around the model
- Hyperscale-adjacent habits: disciplined pipelines, capacity thinking, and operational ownership
Architecture & reliability
- Hexagonal / ports-and-adapters structure in large, legacy-adjacent codebases
- Integration design that assumes failure: circuit breakers, bulkheads, retries, fallbacks, timeout budgets
- Third-party APIs and SDKs specified around real failure modes, not happy-path demos
- CI/CD with adult branching, quality gates, and release hygiene when audits or risk matter
- Observability you can run a business on — tracing, structured logs, metrics tied to outcomes
Leadership & context
- Technical direction for cross-functional programs — priorities, scope, and sequencing that stick
- One narrative for engineers, product, and business stakeholders; fewer surprises in production
- Ambiguous roadmaps and high-stakes launches — clarity without theater
- Coaching distributed teams and specialists (including ML and mobile) toward the same bar
- Venue-scale, event-day, and partner-heavy domains when schedules and integrations do not forgive mistakes
FAQs
Things I often get asked.
Backend and platform work first: services, integrations, event-driven pipelines, and cloud-native data layers. I also partner with mobile teams and product stakeholders when the roadmap needs a senior engineer who can own architecture and still ship.
Strong JVM / Spring ecosystem work, domain-driven boundaries, CQRS-style flows where they earn their keep, and Kafka-style messaging with real operational discipline. On the cloud side I’m comfortable with the usual managed data, cache, config, secrets, and observability primitives end to end.
Failure modes are part of the design: timeouts, retries with backoff, circuit breakers, bulkheads, and dead-letter paths when streams are involved. I treat vendor APIs and SDKs like production dependencies, not demo wiring.
I’ve built and led mobile experiences and still collaborate closely with native iOS and Android engineers. My sweet spot is making sure clients, APIs, and events stay coherent while the product team moves fast.
Yes — large, legacy-adjacent systems with real users are familiar territory. I focus on understanding domain boundaries first, then tightening architecture, observability, and delivery without stopping the world.
Project-based scopes with clear milestones work best. After a short discovery — sometimes async, sometimes a call — I’ll propose a fixed fee or phased plan so you always know what you’re buying.
Depends on surface area and risk. Small integrations or well-bounded features might be weeks; platform or architecture-heavy work often runs on the order of several weeks to a couple of months. I’ll be explicit about unknowns up front.
A deposit to kick off, then milestone or phase invoicing, with a final balance tied to acceptance. For longer engagements we can align payments to sprint or phase boundaries.
Yes. I’m used to async communication, overlapping hours, and written specs that survive time zones.
I reserve some capacity for mission-driven work at reduced rates when schedules align. Ask — worst case I’ll point you to someone better suited.
Shipping something that holds up on game day — when metrics, logs, and calm teammates tell you the design worked. That and translating messy real-world problems into something maintainable.
Scope creep disguised as small asks, and perfectionism. I counter both with clear boundaries, incremental delivery, and honest estimates.
Great systems should feel invisible to users: fast, predictable, and honest about errors. I care about the experience from API to app, not just pretty screens.
Near-black slate backgrounds with soft ink (#f5f5f7) type, cool blue-grays for structure, and a restrained violet or blush accent when you need warmth without noise.
Travel, live events when I can, and side projects that let me try new tools without a deadline breathing down my neck.
CONTACT
Let’s build something premium
Reach out any time — I respond quickly.
With appreciation,
Adam Gaines