This major research project for OCAD University’s Strategic Foresight and
Innovation program argues for improved customer service at border crossings as
a method of enhancing border security. In particular, it focuses on alterations to
Canada’s border service design, using Saffer’s service design framework of
people, objects, processes, and environments. It merges this framework with
personal and mediated narratives regarding border crossings in an effort to
prototype a better and more secure experience for both travellers and guards.
Following a major literature review of both design thinking frameworks and the
wicked problems endemic to North America’s international borders, it offers a
fictionalized narrative scenario regarding the problem of endangered species
smuggling and how border service officers could be better equipped to handle it
with enhanced service.

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