Osmose
Head protection R&D across materials, sensors, and safety constraints
Building toward safer outcomes in messy real-world environments - where comfort, usability, and constraints matter as much as the lab.
gonzalaga.com
I build products when the path isn't obvious.
Product leader and builder working across software and physical systems - focused on turning ambiguous ideas into real, testable things.
First principles
Prototyping as thinking
Constraint-led decisions
Systems taste
Context
The work I'm drawn to
Most of my work lives in the uncomfortable middle: early products, incomplete data, and real-world constraints. I'm most useful when the question isn't "how do we optimize this?" but "what should exist here at all?"
How I think
A 30-second read
Start with the real problem
I begin by identifying who feels the pain, what constraint is truly binding, and what must be true for this to be worth building. Speed matters - after direction is earned.
Reason from constraints, not templates
Frameworks can help. They become harmful when they replace thinking. Every system - technical, organizational, physical - has its own shape.
Use prototypes to think
Prototypes clarify questions, expose assumptions, and force trade-offs into the open. Sometimes they ship; often they simply reduce uncertainty.
Stay close to the system
I stay close enough to code, hardware, manufacturing, or incentives to ask better questions and spot false trade-offs. Distance creates false confidence.
Reduce uncertainty, then commit
I ask: "What's the smallest thing we can build that meaningfully reduces uncertainty?" Then I prefer commitment - clear ownership and accountability.
Talk about a problem
Prefer a longer read? Add a "How Products Get Built" link here.
Selected work
A few projects (curated)
Not a complete list. A small set that shows the kinds of problems I like: ambiguous inputs, hard constraints, and systems that need to hold up in reality.
Hydra-powered POS concept
A payments system idea tested via concrete prototypes
Exploring how new infrastructure can support products outside its native ecosystem - without over-indexing on hype.
Doom as a scaling demo
Proof-of-concept built to make an abstract capability visceral
Using constraints (budget, latency, deployment) as part of the message: this is what it feels like when the system works.
Campfire Player
Kid-safe offline music playback for summer camps
Shipping a constrained experience that camp directors can trust - by controlling the surface area and making trade-offs explicit.
Tip: Each card can link to a 1-2 page case study: context - constraints - what you did - what changed.
Now
What I'm exploring
Safety & physical design
Building a path from prototype to real-world testing, with honest constraints around manufacturing and compliance.
Systems that touch reality
Interested in products where the interface is the world: sensors, incentives, reliability, and human behavior.
Taste & decision-making
Continuing to refine how teams make good decisions under uncertainty - without hiding behind process.
Contact
Reach out
If you're working on something new, messy, or hard to define - and want a thoughtful partner in shaping it - I'm happy to talk.
Optional: add a short "What I don't do" line here as a filter.