We take the complex and make it simple.

We have the wisdom to guide you in creating technology with the most impact.

Consulting

Members of our small-but-mighty Sassafras team have an average of over a decade of experience each across industry, academia, and freelancing.

We bring expertise in website & app design, engineering, and funding strategies for making sustainable, useful technology. Design begins in our first conversation, where we start to understand your needs. From there we provide consulting, research, design and technical plans, quality assurance, and budgets. This includes advising when you shouldn't build a technology solution, and providing alternatives that are usable and sustainable.

Tech consulting: We can help you architect the tech solution for your needs. Our technical plans always include specific tool recommendations, and solutions for the trickiest parts. We have architected sensitive and complex data integrations, multitenant applications, and novel software other consultants might consider 'impossible' on small budgets. Data modeling needs? Custom API design? We can do that too. We will draw on our experiences creating and sustaining software applications that have served organizations for over a decade.
Movement-alined strategies: We have the experience and connections to guide you through the best movement-aligned technology solutions. We prioritize budget, sustainability, and users' safety. We have experience navigating tech needs for collaborations across organizations, and designing software that supports grassroots, bottom-up decision making.
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Grants and funding: We have won funding across industry, academia, and foundations – such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Ford Foundation. We can help you fund your dreams. Our estimates and budgeting make the most of available resources, making sure that your project's priorities are front and center.
Narrative, branding, and translations: We can help you tell your story. In multiple languages.

Design

Members of our small-but-mighty Sassafras team have an average of over a decade of experience each across industry, academia, and freelancing.

Mobile design: 15% of US adults don't have home broadband, relying on only their smartphone – so it's important to have a website that doesn't just function, but looks great on mobile.
Accessibility: 27% of US adults are disabled in some way. We have the knowledge and ability to deliver accessible web experiences.

Custom Software

Doing something no one else has done before? We'll join your team to help you build the app of your dreams. We can build something from scratch and/or connect various software services via API. We use technologies that make the most sense for the job such as Ruby on Rails, Node, React, Vue, or Jekyll.

We'll work with your budget and constraints to figure out what kind of software is best, both for more immediate needs and also for longer term sustainability and maintenance.

Social Computing Research

We are scholars in social computing research communities and have research skills to generate new knowledge on the mutual shaping properties of people and technology. Our members have depth and breadth of experience in quantitative methods and statistics, literature reviews, and qualitative research (interviews and co-design).

Content Management Systems

From blogs to plug-ins to online classes, we'll find the right tools for you and your organization to share your brilliance with the world.

IT, DevOps, & Maintenance

We have a track record of keeping legacy software and database systems running smoothly for more than a decade. We can give your app the love it needs to stay functional and secure for the long term.

Hosting and Support

We have the expertise to set up stable hosting and support to make sure you have what you need when you need it. Our responsive support means you won't have to worry about downtime or upgrades.