Story created for Ways We Work

Sago Sago is an app design company that wants to set itself outside the pack and focus on creating honest, fun apps for toddlers. They are a team of 22 located in downtown Toronto, Canada and they graciously accepted our request to come in and document a day in their offices and give a glimpse of their culture and how they go about making these consistently quality apps. We also chatted a little with Jason Krogh the CEO and founder of SagoSago who gave us a little back story on the company.

Q: Tell us about how you got started. What inspired you start the company?

I got started through a series of happy coincidences. After graduating from university I found myself working for a non-profit group creating educational materials for children. I’d always had an interest in computers and design and really enjoyed working with a wide range of experts. I worked with artists, illustrators, writers, educators, scientists and kids.

In the early days I did all my work as a freelancer. Over time bigger opportunities started to present themselves and the company was founded so we could start taking these on. We worked on a wide range of interactive content - all in the kids space. For one project we designed a set of online games for preschoolers. We put a lot of effort into creating them but when we presented it to the kids we discovered most 3 year olds simply couldn’t use a mouse. It’s just really hard for kids this age to make the mental connection between a hunk of plastic on a desk and a cursor on a screen. And there was simply nothing we could do to address it.

This all changed when Apple introduced the original iPhone. We instantly saw that it offered a completely different experience for young kids. We came up with the idea for what would become Sound Box - a digital sound toy for the iPhone. Sago Sago was founded when we made the leap from an agency to a product company. We went all-in on our preschool apps and just never looked back.

Share this Story