New designer handbook

Welcome to the Marine and Civil Aviation UX community!  

Marine and Civil Aviation 

We are a community of user experience (UX) researchers and designers working on projects for our clients in Marine and Civil Aviation. In order to participate in the full product development process, we are embedded within our delivery teams alongside developers, technical advisors, product owners, team leads, and change managers.  

Organizational chart 

To get to know our teams, and the applications and components they design, build and maintain, please see: 

MAACE Product Org Chart - Miro

Service and Digital Group (SDG) 

Marine and Civil Aviation is part of the Service and Digital Group (SDG) at Transport Canada. SDG has a SharePoint page that provides information and resources designed to support you as you navigate your role and contribute to our shared SDG objectives. Their Welcome Aboard Toolkit includes: 

• the basics of getting set up as an employee, such as pay and benefits, and mandatory training;  

• the Service and Digital Plan;  

• an overview and links to each directorate within SDG; and  

• information about training and development, people and culture, and how to connect with employee-led networks, join the SDG Social Committee, and so much more! 

Welcome Aboard! (sharepoint.com) 

How we work 

UX process 

UX researchers and designers in Marine and Civil Aviation use an iterative approach to design. This means focusing on small increments of work that deliver value to their clients and validating their assumptions early and often. They also aim to include the entire delivery team in the UX process. This allows them to benefit from ideas and input from all team members and helps to create a shared sense of understanding and ownership over the solution.  

We have outlined our UX process in a resource linked below. This was created based on best practices in the wider UX community and includes the tools and techniques Marine and Civil Aviation designers use to help them be successful on their projects. This resource also contains links to articles and templates for some of the tools and techniques mentioned in the process and these will continue to be developed over time.  

To learn more about the UX process, please see: 

MAACE Approach to Human-centered Design (MAHCD)

Terminology 

If any of the terminology mentioned in the UX process is unclear to you, your team, or your project stakeholders, please see: 

Common terminology

Design systems and standards 

For an explanation of the design systems and standards currently in use in Marine and Civil aviation, please see Design systems and standards.

Government of Canada Digital Standards 

It is important to keep in mind the Government of Canada Digital Standards in any work that we do, which include: 

• Design with users 

• Iterate and improve frequently 

• Work in the open by default 

• Use open standards and solutions 

• Address security and privacy risks 

• Build in accessibility from the start 

• Empower staff to deliver better services 

• Be good data stewards 

• Design ethical services 

• Collaborate widely 

Government of Canada Digital Standards - Canada.ca 

Accessibility  

One of our key digital standards is building in accessibility from the start. As UX designers, we can directly impact the accessibility of our product by using accessible design patterns and components. We are also in a great position to help our team and project stakeholders build empathy, awareness and understanding of our users with disabilities. 

If you are new to accessibility, it can be intimidating to know where to start. We encourage you to check out our guide on “Getting started with accessibility” and see our full accessibility space for requirements, training, tools, and resources: 

Getting started with accessibility

Accessibility

Tools 

Before requesting software licenses, it can be a good idea to discuss with your team how you would like to collaborate as every team’s needs are different. Most designers will need tools for: 

1. Wireframing or prototyping; 

2. Facilitating workshops; and 

3. Performing accessibility testing on web applications. 

Some of these tools, like accessibility testing browser extensions, are free to download and install. However, many of these tools require manager approval and financing coding.  

For a full list of available design software, as well as details on how to request each tool, please see: 

Software & tooling

Accessibility tools

Agile 

Our product teams use agile methodologies to deliver products and services to our clients. For more information on agile, and how UX fits into the agile process, please see: 

Agile UX

UX communities 

Designers in Marine and Civil Aviation have access to several UX communities. These communities are a great place to share your work, learn from the experience of other UX practitioners, and connect with your peers. For a full list of available UX communities and how to join, please see: 

Communities of practice

Learning 

As you continue your UX journey, you may be interested in improving or expanding your UX skills. We have put together a collection of training, books, conferences, and workshops to help support your future learning. We encourage you to pursue the learning opportunities that best match your personal learning style. Please see: 

Training

Suggested reading

Conferences & workshops

Questions? 

1. Visit the UX knowledge base UX Enablement | Habilitation de l'expérience utilisateur 

2. Connect with us through the UX and Service Design channel on Teams 

3. Bring your questions to a MAACE UX Community meeting