Specialization

UX Strategy & Service Design

Align services, systems, and teams around experiences that work.

About This Offering

SYSTEMshift helps organizations set a clear direction for their product and service experiences. We lead North Star visioning, journey mapping, and co-creation workshops to align teams, reduce friction, and scale design maturity.

Our service design approach connects policy, delivery, and user needs—bringing systems thinking to product roadmaps, and clarity to cross-functional teams.

Services Include

→ North Star Experience Mapping
→ Journey Maps & Service Blueprints
→ Co-Creation & Sprint Zero Workshops
→ Stakeholder Alignment & Facilitation
→ UX Maturity Models & Enablement
→ Design Ops & Research Taxonomies
→ Blueprint-to-Delivery Strategy

Featured Projects

TD UX Research Repository & Design Enablement (2023)

→ Created a scalable research system used enterprise-wide
→ Developed metadata models, governance, and reuse patterns
→ Eliminated $120K in tools and saved 11,500 hours/year

TD Contact Centre (CCaaS) Discovery (2022)

→ Facilitated discovery across 60+ business lines
→ Developed decentralized UX playbooks and reporting flows
→ Aligned NLP, content, and interaction strategy with call centre tech

Nova Scotia Dept. of Tourism, Culture & Heritage (2021)

→ Led workshops to align digital priorities across departments
→ Defined North Star vision for cultural and tourism services
→ Built prioritization frameworks to guide transformation

MyServiceCanada Future-State Blueprint (2020)

→ Unified siloed engagements into one service design vision
→ Linked benefits policy, delivery systems, and AI opportunities
→ Mapped federal UX ecosystem with actionable design ops

BMO Trident Product Bundle Strategy (2020)

→ Mapped experience friction across bundled financial products
→ Created design artifacts to unify onboarding, servicing, and support
→ Supported the shift from siloed design to service thinking

About Bernadette

Bernadette Smail is the founder of SYSTEMshift and a UX strategist with 15+ years of experience in service design, digital transformation, and user research. At IBM iX, she led design strategy for public and private sector clients, including TD Bank, the Government of Canada, and Nova Scotia. Her work bridges product vision with systems clarity.

Ideal Clients

→ Government teams integrating service and policy
→ Product and UX leaders setting a long-term design strategy
→ Organizations scaling their UX maturity
→ Teams seeking alignment across design, delivery, and ops

Credentials

Testimonials & Recognition

Endorsements from UX, AI & Business Leaders

Helen Romano

Head of IBM iX

Bernadette is an exceptional UX/UI researcher and designer. Her strategic insights and design expertise consistently delivered impactful solutions, making her highly sought after by clients and product teams alike.

Ranvir Malik

Senior Managing Consultant

IBM Canada

You are outstanding—you make a difference. Your unselfish support introduced us to the Mural universe, leading to transformative collaboration.

TD CCaaS Genesys Integration

Uddipana Baishya

Senior Design Researcher

TD Invent

Bernadette, your blend of skills is truly impressive. Managing repository design, development, testing, and debugging as a one-woman team was remarkable. You handled a heavy workload under tight deadlines with composure and adaptability, always eager for feedback and continuous improvement.

TD UX Research Repository