Avian — Making export guidance easier to find and use

Lauren Leamon
Consultant and Designer

Lauren designs practical, human-centred solutions at the intersection of people, technology and business. With experience across healthcare, retail, FMCG and tech products, she translates insights into actionable strategies that drive alignment and impactful outcomes.

Known for her energy, curiosity and strategic mindset, Lauren brings people together through storytelling and collaboration.

How Avian helped the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry redesign ELMER3, the online home of Australia’s meat export guidance.

A critical service for Australia’s meat export industry

ELMER3 is the online home of Australia’s meat export guidance. Exporters, departmental staff and the broader meat industry rely on it every day to find the legislation, manuals and operational guidance that keeps exports moving and standards met.

As the site and industry evolved over time, finding information became difficult. DAFF engaged Avian to create a clearer, more intuitive experience built around industry and users’ needs, and equip its own web team the foundations to continue improving the site long after the project finished.

Designing for industry’s needs

The project combined a comprehensive review of ELMER3 with research into how people actually use export guidance.

A content audit established a clear picture of the site’s information, while card sorting with both internal and external users revealed how people naturally grouped export information. Rather than designing around documents or organisational structures, the new architecture reflected the mental models of the people using the service.

The proposed information architecture was then refined through workshops with program experts, on-plant veterinarians and the broader DAFF community before being validated through tree testing with exporters and departmental staff.

The result was an evidence-based structure that balanced user needs with operational realities.

Project outcomes:

A clearer and more usable ELMER3 shaped by evidence from exporters and departmental staff
Navigation and user flows validated with users
A navigation framework DAFF can implement, maintain and extend in-house
Stronger foundations for consistent content performance

Supporting DAFF beyond the project

The engagement left DAFF with more than a recommended site structure.

The project established a practical framework for organising future content, improving individual resources and making consistent content decisions over time. Every recommendation was documented with its supporting rationale, giving the web team confidence to implement the redesign and continue evolving ELMER3 without relying on external support.

“Your support, expertise and thoughtful approach throughout the project made the process both enjoyable and productive. We really appreciated the way you took the time to understand our business context, ask insightful questions, and work collaboratively with us to shape a solution that met our needs.”

Why it matters

Australia’s meat export industry depends on timely, accurate guidance. Whether someone is preparing export documentation, interpreting operational requirements or responding to changing regulations, finding the right information quickly matters.

By combining user research with close collaboration across DAFF and industry, Avian helped create a clearer foundation for ELMER3; one that supports the people who rely on it today while giving DAFF the capability to continue improving the service into the future.

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