Traveller Personas for Fewer Border Errors - CBSA
Methods & Outcomes
- Contextual field research
- Stakeholder interviews
- Environmental scan
- Behavioural personas
- Journey mapping
- Innovation workshops
- Evaluation matrix for idea prioritization
Team
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Why do well-meaning travellers make mistakes at the border?
Highlights
Inadvertent non-compliance at border crossings, like undeclared goods or incorrect form submissions, creates unnecessary delays and diverts resources. CBSA partnered with DFFRNT to investigate the behaviours behind these common errors and develop solutions rooted in behavioural insight.
Through field research at airports and land crossings, DFFRNT observed real-world challenges travellers face. The team interviewed both travellers and border officers and conducted contextual inquiries, cognitive walkthroughs, and international benchmarking. These insights led to the development of research-backed traveller personas and journey maps, which CBSA is now using to design better communications, digital tools, and compliance strategies.
The Client
CBSA is Canadaβs border authority, tasked with enforcing laws governing international travel and trade. As part of a broader modernization initiative, the agency sought to reduce traveller errors by better understanding human behaviours at points of entry. DFFRNT was brought in to lead behavioural research and persona development.
The Challenge
Many travellers want to comply with Canadian border regulations but end up making mistakes due to stress, confusion, or unclear instructions. These errors, while not criminal, increase processing times and put strain on border services.
CBSA needed to understand the root causes of inadvertent non-compliance and identify opportunities to support travellers through better information, tools, and design.
"Personas are business intelligence tools that can be leveraged when creating policies or strategies as well as for more tactical activities like designing kiosk interfaces or forms."
The Solution
DFFRNT conducted immersive research at major airports and land borders, observing and interviewing travellers and CBSA officers. This included contextual inquiries, stakeholder interviews, and software walkthroughs to identify pain points in current systems.
An environmental scan revealed global best practices for improving compliance. Based on this multi-method research, DFFRNT developed a set of behavioural personas reflecting distinct traveller types; their needs, goals, cognitive patterns, and stress points.
These personas informed a set of customer journey maps, highlighting key moments of confusion, emotion, or error. DFFRNT then led a series of innovation workshops to generate and evaluate potential solutions, using a matrix based on desirability, feasibility, viability, and CBSA priorities.
The Outcome
DFFRNT identified four key drivers of inadvertent non-compliance: stress and nerves, lack of clarity, physical fatigue, and cognitive slips. These insights were embedded into behavioural personas and journey maps that CBSA now uses to guide product, policy, and service design.
CBSA expects to see improved compliance, reduced low-risk secondary inspections, and enhanced traveller satisfaction. More strategically, the agency now has tools to proactively design systems that work for real human behaviours, not just procedural assumptions.
Key Takeaways
- Inadvertent non-compliance is often due to human limitations, not bad intent
- Field research at points of entry provides unmatched behavioural insights
- Personas are strategic tools for both policy and product design
- Journey maps surface pain points and opportunities for intervention
- Behaviourally informed communications can increase compliance and reduce friction
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