Online Research Tools

Summary

Meat & Livestock Australia Limited (MLA) delivers marketing and research and development services for Australia's cattle, sheep and goat producers. TheMLA website publishes content and online tools to assist producers utilise and implement the findings and recommendations of the latest research, which enables them to improve their productivity and profitability. MLA's current suite of online tools were developed individually and independently of each other, some up to 10 years ago, usually with one specific calculation or outcome in mind. Over time as livestock producers have become more informed and internet savvy the current tools have become outdated and fragmented. In addition, as stand-alone tools, they require users to understand their relevance and benefits rather than being more intuitively found and utilised without guidance. 
As part of the research methodology, Lavender conducted a series of workshops and one-to-one interviews with producers from both Northern and Southern states of Australia. Lavender also conducted expert technical and usability reviews and an analysis of Google Analytics web tracking data to determine technical and design issues. A strategic framework was developed along with detailed recommendations on the tools and calculators to address the research objectives and provide guidance for the next stage of the project.