geared_pagination

I like the idea of geared pagination https://github.com/basecamp/geared_pagination which is another gem out of Basecamp. Their philosophy is to show less initially but as you start paging through additional pages it'll show more results per page until you hit a maximum amount. For example you could get 25 results on page 1, 50 on page 2, 100 on page 3, etc.. It's a happy medium. Keep your initial result minimal and focused but if a user wants more then keep giving them more in an efficient way (less clicking).