I am!

Well, besides from that, a usability expert fills a very important role. In simple terms, a usability expert is an architect of web sites. Let's start with some background....

History
A little over 10 years ago, back in the age of the internet myself and some other old schoolers come from, you had your internet "guy". He did it all. He build your site, he designed your site, he setup the servers, he got you high search engine rankings on Lycos, he setup your e-commerce, and he made all the decisions because you didn't know what to do or what was possible. He was your 1 stop shop for your website needs. From design to server, he did it all..... I miss those days.

Well, now that everyone knows it all, no one really knows it all. That guyis now not even 10 different guys so much as 10 different departments. You have your SEO specialists, your copywriters, your designers, your IT department, the business unit in charge, internet marketing unit, affiliate marketing unit, front end developers, back end developers, etc... and finally your usability specialist.

Explanation
So what is a usability specialist again and why are they important? Back to the construction analogy. If your website is a home, your business users are the home owners and the project manager is the, well, project manager. Your designers are you interior designers and you marketing people are your real estate agents. Then, depending on how you have it setup, either your lead front or backend developer is your contractor with your back end folks the sole sub-contractor.

Your usability guy? That guy is your architect. He won't do the labor. He won't lay pipe, run wires, do the frame, pour the foundation, install the toilets, or paint the walls. But what he will do is design the house. He'll tell you how big the rooms will be. He'll tell you how many outlets will go in a room and how big the windows will be. He'll design your staircase and he'll make sure all your bathrooms have enough fixtures. He is the guy in charge of your house's design.

So where do normal graphic designers fall into place? Easy! The usability guy will deign your house, your graphic designer is like your interior designer. They will pick your brick color, your counter-tops, your carpet type and style or it's its hardwood or tile. They will pick your toilet fixtures and the drapes on your wall. They even pick all the furniture. But would you ever let your interior designer  actually design your house?

How We Work
Usability designers use process to accomplish their goal. We start with taking requirements from the business users. Then we make wire frames (blue print) and a list of features. We design a system much like you design a house.

Then, we hand off the project for approval. Once approved, we get the graphic designers involved to make it look pretty based on our layout. Then we go to our front-end team who actually develops the system with the back end team. All the while, we are making sure it gets done write, making last minute adjustments, and writing surveys. We then manage the launch and get feedback to see how it went. We then enter stage two to fix any little things we may have missed or didn't go over so well. And that's how it works!

Done
So, if you are wondering what a usability designer is, it's that. It's a mix between everything because you need design skills, and a skill set from all the other organizations to make sure it all goes together smoothly. That's why an old school dude like me works so well. We know what it takes to make a web site work.