Jade Zhao standing on a white boat deck, smiling at the camera, holding a fishing rod with a silvery fish on the line. Turquoise sea and blue sky behind her; a bait board and a white Ace bucket sit on the deck.

Jade Zhao · 赵郎溪 · she/her

Informatics (Business and Society) @ Indiana University · HHSP Platinum Scholar · expected May 2027

Notes on systems that leave people outside

I write here when I want the thinking on the page, not only the shipped site. My focus is the work that keeps systems usable after the visible part is finished: reliable handoffs, maintainable builds for partners without in-house engineering support, and clear answers when a public form or clinic handoff assumes you already belong. I lead web work at Serve IT and coordinate the Mentor Apprenticeship Programme (MAP) within FASE. Growing up in a family restaurant shaped that standard. After graduation I am looking toward software engineering roles in databases, internal systems, IT, and ETL. The fishing photographs are mine. The GitHub bio is 小猫钓鱼, a children’s story about staying with the rod. GitHub, LinkedIn, and Instagram all use zhao-langxi. That is one name, not a rebrand. Code lives on jadexzhao. The classroom lives on matchaxmoxie.

Read a note Why I Do This Email Jade

Start here

If you want a person first, read Why I Do This. If you want the name, the cat story, and why the rod is in the bio, start with 小猫钓鱼.

  1. Temporary outsiders ... a newcomer can still see the assumption that you already know the sequence.
  2. When websites assume you belong ... friction you can actually observe.
  3. Websites staff can keep alive ... after the student team leaves.
  4. AI and law (pointer) ... madrid-ai-ethics, not a treatise, not legal advice.

Work (selected)

Campus applied work sits beside the repos. At Serve IT I lead web development for nonprofit partners without in-house engineering support. I also coordinate MAP within FASE. Luddy LINK is Luddy’s applied-project programme; I lead the Digital Humans project (February 2025 to present), researching digital humans (AI-driven virtual personas) for business use cases.

Repo What it is
serveit-accessibility WCAG / Cascade / Rivet clinic guides (CC BY-SA 4.0 · Serve-AI context)
madrid-ai-ethics Madrid systems friction + public-service AI ethics notes (accountability, auditability · MIT). Not an EU AI Act project.
local-digital Clinic community digital handovers (MIT)
Quackr Local dating-app prototype · self-tested gate only

On the water

The catch photograph lives on About, next to the origin essay. These frames are the rest of the same set. The children’s story that sits beside them is 小猫钓鱼.

Jade Zhao standing in a small boat on a still lake, holding a fishing rod. She wears a blue jacket and a pink and black life jacket; trees and a clear sky reflect in the water.
Jade Zhao sitting cross-legged in a small white and blue boat near a grassy shore, looking down at a fishing rod. She wears a blue jacket and an orange life vest; pale water stretches behind her.
Jade Zhao on a boat at sea holding a fishing rod with a small silver fish on the line, standing beside an older companion who also holds the line. Turquoise water, extra rods in holders, and a bright sky.