Dffrnt

Dffrnt DFFRNT is a strategic design consultancy.

Our approach focuses on the source of the problems that create bad experiences and we work to achieve permanent long-term solutions that are tailored to your needs.

The meme of the week: wrong button edition. 😅 Users didn’t fail — the button did. Turns out, they don’t need new glasses...
08/20/2025

The meme of the week: wrong button edition. 😅 Users didn’t fail — the button did. Turns out, they don’t need new glasses, they just need clearer design. Labels, placement, and testing go a long way.

The Invisible Architects: The Future of AI’s Forgotten Workforce 🛠️🤖 Behind every “smart” system are unseen hands shapin...
08/19/2025

The Invisible Architects: The Future of AI’s Forgotten Workforce 🛠️🤖 Behind every “smart” system are unseen hands shaping how AI fits into our lives. But what happens when their work goes unrecognized?

Our latest blog unpacks the hidden labor powering AI and why valuing people is key to shaping progress. 🌎✨ Discover the human side of AI’s future. https://www.dffrnt.ca/blog/the-invisible-architects-the-future-of-ais-forgotten-workforce

Wearable tech is changing the game for health, making it more personal, proactive, and accessible. 🩺✨ But technology onl...
08/08/2025

Wearable tech is changing the game for health, making it more personal, proactive, and accessible. 🩺✨ But technology only works when users trust it and can use it easily.

Our latest article dives into how smart design and ethical data use are key to unlocking the full potential of health wearables.

Discover how thoughtful UX and privacy practices put health monitoring in everyone’s hands. 📲💡https://dffrnt.ca/how-wearable-tech-is-making-health-more-accessible/

🌟 Exploring New Frontiers in Public Service! Discover how the U.S. is revolutionizing usability research to streamline s...
12/04/2024

🌟 Exploring New Frontiers in Public Service! Discover how the U.S. is revolutionizing usability research to streamline services. Can Canada adopt these innovative practices? Dive into our latest exploration on how usability testing is shaping user-friendly services! 🚀 [Link in bio]”

Unlocking the Power of Service Blueprints: A Recipe for Success!In the world of service design, "Service Blueprints" are...
08/22/2024

Unlocking the Power of Service Blueprints: A Recipe for Success!

In the world of service design, "Service Blueprints" are the secret sauce that can take your customer experiences from good to exceptional.

🍔 Analogy: The Recipe for a Perfect Burger 🍔

Imagine you're at a restaurant famous for its mouthwatering burgers. What makes their burgers stand out? It's not just the quality of ingredients or the chef's skills; it's the meticulously crafted recipe. The recipe not only lists the ingredients but also provides step-by-step instructions on how to assemble and serve the burger to ensure every customer gets a consistently amazing experience.

Now, think of your service as that burger. The ingredients are your processes, people, and technology, while the recipe is the Service Blueprint.

📋 Example: Improving Customer Onboarding 📋

Now let's say you're in charge of a fintech company, and you want to enhance your customer onboarding process. Without a blueprint, you might make changes here and there, hoping to improve things. But with a Service Blueprint, you have a structured plan that maps out every touchpoint and interaction in the onboarding journey.

1. Ingredients (Processes): You identify the steps involved, such as account setup, KYC verification, and tutorial access.
2. Recipe (Service Blueprint): Your blueprint visualizes the customer journey, highlighting pain points, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement. It also specifies who's responsible for each step and which technology is involved.
3. The Result: Armed with this blueprint, you can make targeted improvements. You streamline the process, reduce customer wait times, and ensure that every interaction is seamless.

🔑 The Value of Service Blueprints 🔑

Service Blueprints are your recipe for success in the world of service design:

1. Clarity: They provide a clear, bird's-eye view of your service, helping you understand how everything fits together.
2. Alignment: They align your team, ensuring everyone understands their role in delivering exceptional customer experiences.
3. Continuous Improvement: By pinpointing pain points, you can continuously refine and optimize your services.
4. Consistency: Just like that perfect burger, Service Blueprints ensure a consistent experience for every customer, every time.

So, whether you're in fintech, healthcare, hospitality, or any other industry, consider adopting Service Blueprints to fine-tune your services and create memorable experiences for your customers. It's the recipe for success that can take your business to the next level! And, if you need help? We'd be happy to chat!

In an era when a two-year old smartphone is out of date, we have 50- and 60-year-old IT systems supporting Canadian bene...
08/21/2024

In an era when a two-year old smartphone is out of date, we have 50- and 60-year-old IT systems supporting Canadian benefit programs.

Two-thirds of the federal government’s digital applications are in poor health and in critical need of upgrades, according to the Auditor General’s report on IT modernization.

In addition to the considerable risk associated with the state of our nation’s digital infrastructure, Canadians are missing out on the benefits of digital transformation. Our citizens are not being served as well as they should because we have not modernized the systems of government.

What can we learn from this? The report points the finger at lack of oversight, inflexible funding structures and prioritizing budgets and schedules over functionality.

Digital transformation can be challenging, especially for large, decentralized organizations. Managing a large-scale modernization or business transformation is not the core competency of most departments and it’s not just an IT function.

Digital transformation is our core competency. If you want some expert input to make the most of your migration to new systems, talk to us.

Twenty years ago, you could get into any car and find the heating controls and the volume k**b. There was a little slide...
08/14/2024

Twenty years ago, you could get into any car and find the heating controls and the volume k**b. There was a little slider or k**b marked with red and blue for heating and cooling. All these things were tactile. They were visible. They had more or less the same structure, no matter what car you got into. So, you could pretty much intuitively figure out what you were supposed to be doing.

Today, with Tesla and other high-end automobiles, there's just a blank screen. You have to figure out how it works. What kind of interactions does it take? Can I speak to it? Can I do gestures? Is it capacitive? Is it resistive? How do I interact with this thing to get what I want out of it?

Unless you read an instruction manual, there’s a lot of trial and error because the interface is more simplified and because more of the structures are invisible on the interface. In many ways, an AI-structured or an AI-powered SaaS application is similar. It’s very powerful and can do many things, but it doesn't have the equivalent of those tactile haptic interface elements that an old car stereo did.

And so, for the user to get proficient will involve a lot more trial and error and pushing of the boundaries


There is no shortage of AI “experts” ready to assist product designers, but the real need will be for user experience experts to maintain users’ agency, access and ease of use - while leveraging the power of AI.

(And if you'd like to chat with user experience experts following the AI trend, get in touch!)

Servus Credit Union (smartly) leaned on user research to support future product and service design decisions, including ...
08/05/2024

Servus Credit Union (smartly) leaned on user research to support future product and service design decisions, including an upgrade to their mobile and online banking tools.

Using one-on-one interviews and an online survey, we developed a comprehensive set of member banking personas to guide the development of Servus’ digital banking products.

Read the full case study here: https://dffrnt.ca/project/servus-credit-union

What makes one product take off and another one flop? The tech industry calls it “stickiness.” We call it good design.Do...
08/03/2024

What makes one product take off and another one flop? The tech industry calls it “stickiness.” We call it good design.

Dominira Saul explored what makes digital products “sticky” in an interview with Authority Magazine, drawing on his years of UX experience. He discusses the importance of knowing your user plus tips to encourage retention and facilitate product adoption.

Check out the full article and see if you recognize any of these qualities in your favorite digital tools: https://medium.com/authority-magazine/dominira-saul-of-dffrnt-on-5-tricks-for-creating-sticky-tech-products-42860daf5429

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