How can we help you?
We design and build creative technology to solve interesting problems
Our Principles
Keep it Simple
A broken experience is usually the result of a complex solution. At Uproot, keeping things simple is our goal, whether we’re writing emails or building a mobile application. To us simplicity is the best way to innovate in an increasingly complex world.
Challenge & Improve
We named our team Uproot because we believe change isn’t usually a very comfortable thing. Delivering great interactive experiences requires being able to forgo our experience and take a different path. That applies not only to what we deliver but how we get there.
100% Satisfaction
At Uproot, client satisfaction goes beyond who’s paying the bills. Our customers are our clients, their audience and our own team. We believe ensuring everyone is satisfied with what they paid for, what they experience and what they create is difficult but integral to delivering great work.
Our Services
Our People
Interaction Design
Creating engaging and elegant interactive experiences requires research, ideation and iteration. That's where our Interaction Design offering comes in.
We partner with our clients to define their challenge and conceptualize a solution. But it doesn't end there. Our tightly integrated offering ensures that interaction design works with our other practices through the entire project life cycle, adapting our solution to changing requirements and fine-tuning the experience until it's just right.
Creative Design
Creativity is at the core of everything we do, even when we code. Our Creative Design practice however specifically refers to the visual design and content strategy of an experience.
Creative leads such as Art Directors and Copywriters are selected based on expertise and fit. They are involved from project inception to launch, making them an integral and accessible part of the team.
Our clients have found our unique approach to Creative Design to be flexible, cost-effective and most importantly, successful.
Development
Uproot was founded on the principle that great user experiences are built upon a solid platform. That's why everyone of our team members has years of experience in interface and application development.
As a creative group, our technology background is indispensable when it comes to making informed decisions about what we can deliver and how far we can push it. We pride ourselves on producing robust, compliant and accessible code that turn good ideas into great solutions.
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Adam Slayer has applied the principles of User Centered Design to Web-based projects since 1994.
Recognized for a collaborative leadership style and ability to recruit and retain high-quality teams, Adam worked for Bowne Global, Critical Mass and Blast Radius prior to founding Uproot. Adam has helped leading brands including BMW Canada, Crate and Barrel, Nintendo, Whirlpool, Newell Rubbermaid, CBC Sports, Mercedes-Benz USA, AOL, Aeroplan, and EA Sports.
Adam is a graduate of the University of Toronto - Trinity College, where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Ethics, Society and Law.
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Derek Vaz has been designing and building interfaces for web since 1998.
Prior to Uproot, Derek worked for IBM, Blast Radius and Teehan+Lax where he helped create interactive experiences for various clients including BMW, Whirlpool, John Hancock, Air Miles and Crate & Barrel. Recently, his work for SunChips/Frito-Lay won the Green category at the 2009 Effie Awards. He is also the co-creator of Image Spark, an online tool for collaborative inspiration.
Derek is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Mathematics in Computer Science with a minor in Psychology.
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Craig Coles has been in web development since 2004 as both an Interface Developer and Application Developer.
Prior to joining Uproot, Craig worked for Blast Radius, Softchoice and the social media site Bibliocommons. He has helped develop web solutions for clients such as BMW, Maytag, Live Nation, Jenny Craig, Dymo, Lindt, Air Miles, CBC, Crate & Barrel and Boeing.
Craig graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from the university of Guelph and a post graduate diploma in Web Development for e-business from Humber College.
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Chris Baigorri has been building interactive experiences since 1999.
Before joining Uproot, Chris worked for Bank of Montreal Institute for Learning, Blast Radius and Jam3 Media. His work has been nominated for several awards and including FWA for his work on the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse's xperiment.ca. He has helped produce experiences for clients such as BMO, BMW, EA Sports, Chevy, Pontiac, CBC, Sharpie, CIBC, Medtronic, Proactiv, and Frito-Lay.
Our Process
1. Discover
Our process begins from the moment we sit down with our clients, defining, researching and modelling their specific challenge, through to executing an initial design by means of schematics, presentations and/or prototypes. The goal of this stage is to clearly define a strategy that will be implemented in our Design and Build phase.
2. Design
In Design, concepts and schematics are created and iterated upon by our partners producing visual mocks, working copy and, when necessary, active prototypes. Interaction and creative partners work together with our development team and stakeholders to review and refine the concept and drive it toward a working solution.
3. Create
Our development team is involved throughout the process, guiding decisions, raising concerns and suggesting appropriate technology to achieve the best possible solution. In this phase, frameworks are developed, interfaces created, application logic defined and implemented before everything is rigorously tested to ensure the integrity of the work.
4. Evolve
As creative technologists, we know the only constant is change. We strive to continually improve not only the work we've done but the way we do it. As the final step in our process, each project includes a scheduled post-launch evaluation where all stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on both the finished product and our process.
