Traditional approaches that shoehorn you into one way of working may not meet your needs in the reality of your business or initiative. We'll support you and together find the best approach.

Experience Thinking puts the experience first, before technology or business considerations. We design connected experiences across four key areas - brand, content, product, and service - ensuring each touchpoint works together seamlessly. This holistic approach creates remarkable experiences from start to finish.

Tip: When evaluating UX services, ask how they connect different experience touchpoints rather than treating them as separate projects.

We start with ethnographic research, contextual interviews, and job shadowing to understand a day in the life of your users. This deep understanding forms personas and usage scenarios that guide every design decision, ensuring solutions solve actual problems rather than assumed ones.

Tip: The best insights come from observing users in their natural environment, not just asking them questions in a lab.

We map the complete experience lifecycle from initial awareness through ongoing loyalty. Each 'knot' in this red thread requires strategy, research, design, and testing. By designing for the entire journey, we create experiences that feel coherent whether someone is discovering your brand or has been a customer for years.

Tip: Consider how your current touchpoints connect - or don't - and identify where experiences break down between channels.

By designing experiences that customers value, we help transform initial users into loyal advocates. Our approach reduces time to market, creates more successful products, and builds customer loyalty through intentionally designed journeys that deliver on your brand promise at every interaction.

Tip: Focus on measuring both immediate conversions and long-term customer advocacy when evaluating UX impact.

Emotions are fundamental to how people perceive and remember experiences. We design for the feelings generated at each touchpoint, whether it's confidence during onboarding or delight during product use. These emotional connections drive preference and loyalty beyond functional benefits.

Tip: Map the emotional journey alongside functional tasks to identify moments that matter most to users.

Experience Thinking recognizes that great experiences must serve both users and business goals. We identify where these needs align and design solutions that create value for everyone. If a design doesn't meet both needs, it will ultimately fail regardless of how beautiful or functional it appears.

Tip: The strongest business cases come from demonstrating how better user experiences drive measurable business results.

Brand experience encompasses how people feel about your organization - your values, promise, and emotional impact. This foundation influences every other experience. A strong brand makes content more effective, products more desirable, and services more trustworthy, creating a multiplier effect across all touchpoints.

Tip: Ensure your UX efforts align with and reinforce your brand promise rather than working against it.

We begin with broad ethnographic techniques to understand context, then narrow focus through interviews, surveys, and observation. This combination of methods reveals not just what users say, but what they actually do, uncovering insights that drive innovative solutions.

Tip: The most valuable insights often come from the gap between what users say and what they actually do.

We develop detailed personas based on actual user research, not assumptions. Through contextual inquiry and behavioral analysis, we identify patterns that define meaningful segments. These personas guide design decisions throughout the project, ensuring solutions work for real people.

Tip: Effective personas focus on behaviors and goals rather than demographics alone.

We create early prototypes and test them with actual users, iterating based on feedback. This approach identifies issues while changes are still easy and inexpensive. By validating experiences on paper first, we avoid building products that ultimately no one wants.

Tip: Testing rough concepts early saves more time and money than perfecting designs that haven't been validated.

Service design requires understanding the complete journey across multiple touchpoints. We use service blueprints, journey mapping, and stakeholder interviews to map both front-stage and backstage processes. This reveals where experiences break down and opportunities for improvement.

Tip: Service experiences often fail at handoff points between channels or departments - pay special attention to these transitions.

We establish baseline metrics before design changes, then track both behavioral metrics (task completion, time on task) and perception metrics (satisfaction, likelihood to recommend). This dual approach captures both immediate usability improvements and long-term relationship building.

Tip: Define success metrics before starting design work to ensure everyone agrees on what improvement looks like.

We analyze competitor experiences to identify industry patterns and opportunities for differentiation. However, we focus more on understanding your unique users than copying competitors. The goal is creating experiences that serve your specific audience better than anyone else.

Tip: Use competitive insights to identify gaps in the market, not to create me-too experiences.

We employ creative recruitment strategies and flexible research methods. This might include remote research, guerrilla testing, or working with proxy users. The key is adapting methods to constraints while maintaining research rigor and actionable insights.

Tip: Some user input is always better than none - find creative ways to include user perspectives even with constraints.

We synthesize research findings into design principles and requirements that guide creative decisions. Through collaborative workshops and iterative sketching, we explore multiple concepts before converging on solutions that best serve user needs and business goals.

Tip: The best designs emerge from clear principles based on research, not personal preferences or trends.

We organize content based on users' mental models, discovered through card sorting and tree testing. This ensures information structures make sense to your audience, not just internal stakeholders. Clear navigation reduces cognitive load and helps users accomplish goals efficiently.

Tip: Test your information architecture with actual users before committing to visual design or development.

Visual design goes beyond aesthetics to support function. We use visual hierarchy, consistent patterns, and clear affordances to guide users through tasks. Every visual decision - from color to typography - serves both emotional impact and functional clarity.

Tip: Beautiful design that confuses users is ultimately a failure - ensure visual choices enhance rather than hinder usability.

We design for the complete ecosystem users inhabit, ensuring experiences adapt gracefully across devices. This means understanding not just screen sizes but usage contexts - what users need on mobile versus desktop and how tasks flow between devices.

Tip: Consider the user's journey across devices, not just individual screen designs in isolation.

Content is integral to experience, not an afterthought. We design content structures that support user tasks, create content guidelines that maintain voice consistency, and ensure content remains findable, relevant, and actionable across all touchpoints.

Tip: Great UX requires great content - plan for content creation and governance from the beginning.

Prototypes make ideas tangible for testing and refinement. We create prototypes at various fidelities - from paper sketches to interactive mockups - matching the prototype to what we need to learn. This iterative approach reduces risk and improves final quality.

Tip: Match prototype fidelity to your questions - don't build more than needed to get valuable feedback.

We establish design systems with reusable patterns, style guides, and component libraries. These tools ensure consistency while enabling efficiency. Regular design reviews and clear documentation help maintain quality as projects scale.

Tip: Invest in design system foundations early to avoid costly inconsistencies later.

We offer flexible models: embedded teams that integrate with your staff, custom project teams for specific initiatives, end-to-end project delivery, and knowledge transfer engagements. Each model adapts to your UX maturity level and project requirements.

Tip: Choose an engagement model that builds your internal capabilities while delivering immediate value.

We integrate seamlessly with your teams, adapting our communication style and processes to match your culture. Regular touchpoints, shared documentation, and collaborative workshops ensure knowledge flows both ways throughout the engagement.

Tip: The best partnerships involve active participation from internal stakeholders who know your business context.

We believe in empowering your team through hands-on learning. Our experts work alongside your staff, sharing methods and insights through practical application. We also offer formal UX certification programs to build deeper expertise.

Tip: Sustainable UX success requires building internal capabilities, not just delivering one-time solutions.

We scale our approach to match constraints without sacrificing quality. This might mean focusing on highest-impact areas, using rapid research methods, or phasing work strategically. We're transparent about trade-offs and help prioritize for maximum value.

Tip: Be clear about constraints upfront so your UX partner can recommend the most effective approach within limits.

We facilitate alignment through collaborative workshops, regular communication, and visual artifacts that make abstract concepts concrete. By involving stakeholders throughout the process, we build consensus and avoid surprises at project end.

Tip: Include decision-makers early and often to ensure designs meet both user needs and organizational realities.

With offices in Toronto, New York, and the UK, we're experienced in distributed collaboration. We use digital collaboration tools, establish clear communication protocols, and schedule overlap times for critical discussions while respecting everyone's working hours.

Tip: Successful remote collaboration requires intentional communication practices and the right tools.

We provide implementation support, design governance, and ongoing consultation as needed. Documentation and training ensure your team can maintain and evolve designs. We remain available for questions and iterations as you learn from real-world use.

Tip: Plan for post-launch support to address issues that only emerge with real users at scale.

We provide detailed specifications, component libraries, and ongoing design support during development. Regular design reviews catch issues early, while close collaboration with developers ensures feasibility without compromising experience quality.

Tip: Include developers in design discussions early to identify technical constraints and opportunities.

We establish measurement frameworks before launch, tracking both quantitative metrics (conversion, task success) and qualitative feedback (satisfaction, sentiment). This data drives continuous improvement and demonstrates ROI for experience investments.

Tip: Define success metrics that connect user experience improvements to business outcomes.

Experience design is iterative. We analyze real-world usage data, gather user feedback, and identify optimization opportunities. Small, continuous improvements often yield bigger returns than massive redesigns.

Tip: Budget for post-launch optimization to maximize your initial investment's value.

We deliver comprehensive documentation including design rationale, pattern libraries, content guidelines, and governance frameworks. These resources help your team maintain consistency and make informed decisions as needs evolve.

Tip: Good documentation pays dividends by preventing experience degradation over time.

We identify what works through testing and measurement, then systematize successful patterns for reuse. Design systems, playbooks, and training programs help spread best practices across products and teams.

Tip: Capture and share what works to multiply the impact of successful experience design.

Successful experiences require user adoption and organizational support. We help plan rollouts, create training materials, and design transition strategies that ease users into new experiences while maintaining productivity.

Tip: Even the best designed experience can fail without proper change management planning.

In markets where products are increasingly similar, experience becomes the key differentiator. By creating intentionally designed, connected experiences, you build emotional connections and switching costs that competitors can't easily replicate.

Tip: Focus on experience elements unique to your brand and user relationships for sustainable differentiation.

We've worked with over 220 clients across technology, energy, healthcare, financial services, media, and government. Each industry brings unique challenges, but Experience Thinking principles adapt to create value regardless of sector.

Tip: Look for experience partners with relevant industry knowledge but fresh perspectives from other sectors.

Culture change starts with demonstrable wins. We help identify quick victories that showcase experience value, then build momentum through training, process integration, and governance structures that embed experience thinking organizationally.

Tip: Sustainable experience excellence requires cultural change, not just better designs.

Quick wins appear within months through improved conversion and reduced support costs. Deeper returns - increased loyalty, word-of-mouth growth, reduced churn - build over 12-18 months as experiences mature and users form habits.

Tip: Track both immediate metrics and long-term relationship indicators to capture full ROI.

We connect experience improvements to business metrics executives care about: revenue, cost reduction, market share, and customer lifetime value. Case studies, competitive analysis, and pilot projects demonstrate tangible value.

Tip: Frame experience investments in business terms, not just user satisfaction scores.

Innovation emerges from deeply understanding user needs and exploring creative solutions. We balance proven patterns with experimental approaches, always grounding innovation in real user value rather than novelty for its own sake.

Tip: True innovation solves real problems in new ways - focus on user outcomes, not just new technologies.

AI enhances our research capabilities through pattern recognition and analysis, while supporting design through rapid prototyping and personalization. However, we maintain human judgment for empathy, creativity, and strategic decisions that AI cannot replicate. We view AI as a tool that amplifies human expertise rather than replacing it.

Tip: Evaluate how UX partners balance AI efficiency with human insight and creativity for optimal results.

AI enables sophisticated personalization based on user behavior and preferences. We help design AI-powered experiences that feel helpful rather than creepy, establishing appropriate boundaries and transparency about data use while delivering genuine value.

Tip: Successful AI personalization requires careful attention to user privacy concerns and clear value exchange.

While AI excels at pattern recognition and automation, emotional intelligence remains distinctly human. We design AI interactions that acknowledge their limitations, hand off appropriately to humans when empathy is needed, and maintain authentic connections.

Tip: Consider where human touch remains essential in your experience and design AI to support, not replace, these moments.

We prioritize transparency, user control, and bias prevention in AI experiences. This includes clear communication about AI use, options for users to adjust or opt out, and careful attention to training data and algorithm design to ensure fair outcomes.

Tip: Build trust by being transparent about AI use and giving users meaningful control over their experience.

AI experiences require specialized testing approaches that evaluate not just individual interactions but patterns over time. We test for accuracy, helpfulness, bias, and user satisfaction across diverse scenarios and user groups.

Tip: Plan for ongoing monitoring and adjustment of AI experiences as they learn and evolve with use.

AI will increasingly support experience creation and delivery, from predictive design to real-time adaptation. However, the fundamental need for human understanding, creativity, and empathy in designing meaningful experiences remains constant. The future combines AI efficiency with human insight.

Tip: Stay informed about AI capabilities while maintaining focus on human-centered design principles.