We have been lucky to have a full time interaction designer within our library IT group for about 6 years. It makes a world of difference in the quality of our products; it also helps with letting the engineers focus on engineering, and the librarians focus on being librarians (rather than trying to design for patrons). 

- Tom


On Oct 30, 2013, at 8:24 AM, Andrew Darby wrote:

> Hello, all.  This is perhaps a bit off-topic, but I was wondering how many
> of you have a dedicated usability person as part of your development team.
> Right now, we have a sort of ad hoc Usability Team, and I'd like to make a
> pitch for hiring someone who will have the time and inclination to manage
> this effort more effectively.
> 
> Anything you'd care to share (on-list or off-) would be welcome.  I'm
> especially curious about whether or not this is a full-time responsibility
> for someone in your organization or if it's shared with another job
> function; if you find this position is working out well or you wish you'd
> spent the money on more robots instead; where this person resides in your
> org chart; what sort of qualifications you looked for when hiring; etc.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Andrew
> 
> -- 
> Andrew Darby
> Head, Web & Emerging Technologies
> University of Miami Libraries